Ratings: Tony Awards Drop 44 Percent Without ‘Hamilton’ Hype

Last year’s best-of-Broadway hit a 15-year high thanks to Lin-Manuel Miranda musical

hamilton

How huge was “Hamilton” last year? Well, without all its hype, this season’s Tony Awards declined 44 percent from 2016.

Last time around, the best-of-Broadway show had hit a 15-year high. That wasn’t the case on Sunday, and while CBS hauled in the most total viewers throughout primetime, the so-called Tiffany Network finished third in the key 18-49 demographic.

Airing the clincher of the 2017 Stanley Cup Finals, NBC was first among that important age range. Congrats to them, and to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

NBC was first in ratings with a 1.8 rating/7 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and second in total viewers with an average of 5.9 million, according to preliminary numbers. “Sunday Night With Megyn Kelly” at 7 p.m. put up a 0.9/4 and 4.3 million viewers. The Cup followed, pulling up the network’s averages.

ABC was second in ratings with a 1.2/5 and third in viewers with 5.7 million. Following a rerun, the season premiere of “Celebrity Family Feud” at 8 landed a 1.5/6 and 6.9 million viewers. At 9, the series debut of “Steve Harvey’s Funderdome” posted a 1.4/5 and 6.1 million viewers. The kickoff to a new summer of “$100,000 Pyramid” at 10 had a 1.2/5 and 5.5 million viewers.

CBS was third in ratings with a 0.9/4 and first in viewers with 6.4 million. At 7, a “60 Minutes” rebroadcast got a 0.7/3 and 7.7 million viewers. The 71st Annual Tony Awards handled the rest of prime, averaging a 0.9 and 6 million viewers.

Univision was fourth in ratings with a 0.8/3 and fourth in viewers with 2 million, airing soccer.

Fox was fifth in ratings with a 0.5/2 and in viewers with 1.1 million. After some repeats, “Bob’s Burgers” at 8:30 had a 0.7/3 and 1.5 million viewers. At 9, the season premiere of “American Grit” settled for a 0.4/2 and 1.1 million viewers.

Telemundo was sixth in ratings with a 0.3/1 and in viewers with 772,000.

Comments