Viewership for the Tony Awards decreased 51% from its previous ceremony in 2019.<\/b>
\nThe Tony Awards, which celebrates the achievements of the biggest Broadway shows, hit an all-time low television viewership of 2.62 million viewers this year, according to Nielsen, tumbling down further from its previous record low two years ago, and bucking a brief trend (including the Emmy awards a week ago) where TV ratings seemed to be on the rebound. Viacom CBS\u2019 decision to break up the award show into two segments, airing only a portion of the broadcast on CBS and streaming the full show and special on Paramount Plus could be a factor in the lower viewership numbers, with more people potentially opting to stream the show online rather than watch it on television. Viewership numbers of the show on the streaming platform have not yet been released by Nielsen. Another factor that could have hit viewership numbers is the date when the shows were originally released, which were in 2019 and 2020 prior to the shutdown of Broadway. Unlike other award shows like the Emmys and the Oscars, which held virtual award showings in 2020, the Tony Awards postponed last year\u2019s show altogether to 2021. Television networks have seen a decrease in viewership since the coronavirus pandemic began, and award shows in particular have not been as big a draw as they once were. The Grammys and Oscars viewership numbers dropped earlier this year and while the Emmy Awards saw a break in a multi-year streak of record-low ratings, garnering 7 million views compared to 2020\u2019s 6.4 million, the Tony Awards strayed from this brief upward trend. However, streaming services like Amazon Prime and Disney Plus are seeing a continuing growth in subscriptions following the pandemic. Amazon Prime added 29 million subscribers over 12 months to March for a total of 147 million, while Disney Plus has reached 116 million subscribers since launching in November 2019. This has prompted the Academy of Country Music Awards to air its show exclusively on Amazon Prime in 2022, hoping to capture some of that streaming audience. Emmys Scores Highest Ratings In 3 Years After Record-Low 2020 ( Forbes) Scandal-Plagued \u2018Jagged Little Pill\u2019: Alanis Morissette\u2019s Tony-Winning Musical Sees Performers Quit Over Trans Controversy ( Forbes)<\/p>\n