The Emmy Awards aired on Sunday nights on CBS should not award the most viewed show. We are pleased to gain insight into how television shows were most popular among viewers. And the numbers can be pretty surprising.
A new Nielsen report showing how many hours the series has been viewed for series in the Top Emmy category reveals that CBS’s “Survivor” returned to race this year and tweaked “The Voice” – has earned more than twice as much viewing time as other shows nominated for the best drama, comedy, limited or reality competition series during their eligibility period.
Nielsen numbers are counted in total viewing time (Emmy window) for broadcast, cable and streaming. This means that the streamer’s library is considered. This is a big plus for “Survivor” as the last 48 seasons are all available on Paramount+ and on Hulu and Roku channels. Additionally, the show aired two cycles (27 episodes in total) during the window. Still, the show has totaled 462.4 million viewing time.
The closest series after viewers is “The White Lotus,” which has 220.7 million hours of viewers and is the top nomination for the drama series. The most viewed comedy series is ABC’s 184.1 million hours of Abbott Primary School, with Top Watching Limited or anthology of 149.5 million in Monster: The Tale of Lyle and Eric Menendez.
Release dates also have a big impact on the list. For example, “The Studio” was only announced in March and aired on one streamer on Apple TV+. “Abbott Elementary” has been running on ABC since October, with past seasons (and the current availability of the day) streaming through the windows on Hulu.
Below is the breakdown of other series candidates and the total time seen in Emmy’s Window, according to Nielsen.
Outstanding reality competition series
“Survivors”: 4624 million
“Rupaul’s Drag Race”: 139.1 million
“Amazing Race”: 1327 million
“Top Chef”: 941 million
93.2 million “traitors”
Excellent drama series
“White Lotus”: 210.7m
“Resignation”: 157.5m
“Our Last”: 137.1m
“Pit”: 128.5m
“Paradise”: 97.4m
“Diploma”: 95m
“Andru”: 88m
“Throw Hose”: 49.4m
A great comedy series
“Abbott Elementary School”: 184.1m
“Murders in the building only”: 159.1m
“Bear”: 141.1m
“No one wants this”: 96.8m
“Reduced”: 78.9m
“Hacking”: 56.5m
“What we do in the shadows”: 55.6m
“Studio”: 16.9m
Excellent limited or anthology series
“Monster: Lyle & Eric Menendeath Story”: 149.5m
“Penguin”: 102.3m
“Black Mirror”: 95.6m
“Adolescent”: 78.5m
“Die for Sex”: 5.9m
