Tony Awards Ratings Up Over Last Year on CBS

By Michael Malone
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

Unscripted formula works for host Ariana DeBose

(From l.): Julianne Hough, Joel Grey, John Kander and Ariana DeBose at the 76th Annual Tony Awards in New York.
(From l.): Julianne Hough, Joel Grey, John Kander and Ariana DeBose at the 76th Annual Tony Awards in New York. (Image credit: Michele Crowe/CBS)

Ratings for The 76th Annual Tony Awards were up a bit from last year, CBS reported. The 8-11 p.m. broadcast had 4.31 million viewers, up 2% from last year, according to Nielsen. 

Live streaming on Paramount Plus went up 13% from last year. 

Ariana DeBose hosted the Tonys at the United Palace in New York City. DeBose hosted the event last year as well. The June 11 event was unscripted amidst the writers strike. It almost did not happen, with a group of playwrights who also work in television and film persuading the Writers Guild of America that it would be unfair for theater to suffer from protests and pickets from Hollywood writers on its big night. 

“I’m live and unscripted,” DeBose said at the start of the Tonys. 

Leopoldstadt won the Tony for best play and Kimberly Akimbo won best musical. J. Harrison Ghee of Some Like It Hot got best lead actor in a musical and Victoria Clark of Kimberly Akimbo got top actress in a musical. Sean Hayes of Good Night, Oscar won best lead actor in a play and Jodie Comer of Prima Facie won best lead actress in a play. 

Michael Malone
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.