Primetime Ratings: Emmys Down on ABC

Jimmy Kimmel greets Tracee Ellis Ross on stage during the 2020 Emmys.
(Image credit: ABC)

NBC had the winning score in Sunday prime, Sunday Night Football easily topping the Emmys on ABC. NBC had a 3.5 in viewers 18-49, and a 19 share. In second was CBS, with the NFL leading into prime, at 1.7/19, while ABC rode the Emmys to a 0.9/5. 

NBC had Football Night in America at a flat 1.8 and Sunday Night Football, Patriots versus Seahawks, at 4.1. Last week, Cowboys-Rams scored a 4.7. 

CBS had the NFL leading into the season premiere of 60 Minutes up 44% for a 1.3. Big Brother got a 0.9 and Love Island a 0.4, both down a tenth. 

ABC had Celebrity Family Feud at 0.7 and the Emmys, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, on at 8 p.m. ET. The Emmys, with Kimmel in an empty Staples Center, averaged a 1.0. Last year’s Emmys on Fox got a 1.5. Last night, Schitt’s Creek dominated the comedy categories and Succession and Watchmen rolled on the drama side. 

In 2019, Fox came in third with its Emmys telecast, behind NBC and CBS. 

Univision scored a 0.4/2. The Quien Es La Mascara finale got a level 0.4. 

Fox had a 0.3/2 with comedy reruns. 

Telemundo rated a 0.2/1. The Exatlon Estados Unidos finale got a flat 0.3. A rerun of The Wall closed out prime. 

The CW got a 0.1/0 with repeats. 

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.