Hey, Mr. Arnstein! There was no rain on the 76th annual Tony Awards parade.
CBS telecast of the Tonys, which ran from 8 to 11p.m. ET on Sunday, was watched by 4.3 million people Sunday, earning the celebration of theater its most watched show since 2019. This marks a 2% bump from last year, when 3.9 million viewers tuned in to the Tonys first-ever live coast-to-coast broadcast. This measurement is based on fast national data and estimated out-of-home viewership from Nielsen.
Additionally, based on first-party data from Paramount+, CBS reports that Sundays show was the most live-streamed show ever, with 13% streaming growth compared to last year, though exact figures were not made available. And the Tonys pre-show on Pluto TV, titled The Tony Awards: Act One, became the most-watched live event ever since the free ad-supported platform launched in 2013.
The 76th Tony Awards were historic for reasons beyond viewership as well.
Alex Newell and J. Harrison Ghee became the first-ever openly nonbinary performers to win Tonys, with Newell being recognized for their featured role as Lulu in the musical Shucked while Ghee won lead musical actor for playing Jerry/Daphne in Some Like it Hot.
Also notable was the fact that the ceremony was completely unscripted in compliance with the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike. The WGA denied Tonys producers request for a strike waiver, after which the producers agreed that nothing would be written originally for the ceremony. This allowed the telecast to move forward and prevented the event from being picketed. Ariana DeBose served as host and opened the show with a wordless dance number in a show of solidarity with the writers.
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