Rob McElhenney put out a tweet that foreshadowed the viewership results for the Emmy Awards.
The “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” star was at the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on Jan. 15, but his mind was clearly focused on something happening on the other side of the country.
McElhenney, who is also the co-owner of Wrexham FC alongside Ryan Reynolds, posted on X, formerly Twitter, a selfie by his wife, Kaitlin Olson, which showed the two on their seats at the Peacock Theater but with McElhenney’s eyes glued to his phone.
The unabashed Philadelphia Eagles fan was streaming the ESPN broadcast of the Wild Card match-up between the Eagles and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from the awards show. The NFL Playoff game and the Emmys both started at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, so McElhenney did what he had to do to watch the game.
“Who schedules the Emmys the same night as the @eagles #gobirds #FlyEaglesFly,” McElhenney wrote on X.
Who schedules the Emmys the same night as the @eagles #gobirds #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/qaRiD0ZFHx
— Rob McElhenney (@RMcElhenney) January 16, 2024
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He probably wasn’t happy with the results as his Eagles were eliminated in embarrassing fashion. But his tweet showcased the behavior of America, as seen by the television viewership results from that night.
ESPN saw 28.6 million viewers for the Wild Card game between the Eagles and the Bucs, which completely crushed the record-low 4.3 million viewers of the Emmys. The Iowa caucuses also beat out the Emmys, drawing 4.67 million viewers, albeit across three different networks (Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN).
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The NFL playoff game at number one isn’t too shocking considering how much the league dominates viewership. But for one game to air on the night of the Emmys and for the viewership gap to be over 24 million is pretty telling of where the viewership for awards shows is headed.
The Emmys viewership in 2013 was at 17.8 million, more than four times what it is today.
Emmy Awards viewership through the years
2013: 17.8 million
2014: 15.6 million
2015: 11.9 million
2016: 11.4 million
2017: 11.4 million
2018: 10.2 million
2019: 7.0 million
2020: 6.4 million
2021: 7.4 million
2022: 5.9 million
2023: 4.3 million
— Morning Brew ☕️ (@MorningBrew) January 17, 2024
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