Tony Awards Ratings Up Over Last Year on CBS

Michael Malone
·1 min read
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(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.

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.