It’s good news and bad news for this year’s Tony Awards.
Ratings were the same as last year – 5 million viewers.
The difference is that this year there was no competition at all for the CBS special. No sports, no specials, nothing even on cable that could cause a distraction.
The actual number should have been closer to 8 million, say TV industry insiders.
The 5 million, same as 2025, at least held the increase from a low of 3.5 in 2024.
According to available data, the Tonys started strong, but audience started tuning out around 9 pm — when the “Cats: Jellicle Ball” number began.
This year’s show was a little different than in the past. New producers tried to shake things up by delivering the awards in a pedestrian process. The first award went to John Lithgow, Best Actor in a Play. From then on, there was no order to the prizes. The show didn’t build up at all, but careened around like a drunk playwright at Sardi’s.
Some say it might have been smarter to feature host Pink more in that first hour. Her performance with the cast of “Chicago,” which came as numbers were fading, was a highlight of the evening. But by then, viewership was way under 4 million.
Another problem was a general lack of mainstream celebrities. Bernadette Peters and Brian Stokes Mitchell were the most accessible Broadway names on stage. But why didn’t Daniel Radcliffe and Mariska Hargitay — each involved in the same one-actor show right now — present together? And why was Megan Thee Stallion so heavily promoted? A lot of it was strange. Why can’t the Tonys lure back big names like Bette Midler and Mandy Patinkin? And where’s Mr. Broadway himself, Hugh Jackman?
Well, it’s done now. Pink gets an A but the show could have used some more juice.
