The 78th annual Tony Awards on CBS on Sunday (June 8) delivered its largest broadcast audience since 2019 (when James Corden hosted), up 38% year-over-year, and its largest livestreaming audience ever on Paramount+, up 208% year-over-year.
The show, hosted by Cynthia Erivo for the first time and back in Radio City Music Hall for the first time in three years, aired live coast-to-coast. It ran 10 minutes over its three-hour scheduled time. Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss produced the show. Weiss also directed.
The 78th Annual Tony Awards ratings highlights:
- Averaged 4.85 million viewers, up 38% from last year’s 3.53 million.
- No. 1 non-sports program of the night
- Year-over-year gains across key demos and best since 2018: adults 25-54 up 91% year-over-year; adults 18-49 up 107% year-over-year; adults 18-34 up 147% year-over-year
- Social media engagement was at a three-year high: 161,900 mentions 75% from 2024
There are many likely reasons for the ratings uptick. Erivo is coming off the success of Wicked, the top-grossing film adaptation of a Broadway musical in history. Also, there was a tight contest in one of the highest-profile categories — best actress in a leading role in musical — between Nicole Scherzinger, who ultimately won, and Audra McDonald, who has won more Tonys than any other performer.
The ceremony featured 15 musical performances. Partly because the show books performances from the nominees for best revival of a musical, the show was studded with songs that many viewers were familiar with, including Scherzinger’s performance of “As If We Never Said Goodbye” from Sunset Blvd. and McDonald’s “Rose’s Turn” from Gypsy.
Other songs that many viewers knew were Jonathan Groff performing “Mack the Knife” / “That’s All” / “Once in a Lifetime” from the Bobby Darin musical Just in Time; Sara Bareilles and Erivo performing “Tomorrow” from Annie over the In Memoriam spot; the original cast of Hamilton reuniting to perform parts of eight shows from that blockbuster show; and Erivo performing a special material version of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” from Dreamgirls at show’s end.
