Last year’s Oscar telecast brought in a domestic viewership of 40.3 million. The Grammys, 28 million. The Tonys? Last year’s telecast, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, attracted a paltry six million viewers, a 21-year low. So why would CBS-TV, who since 1978 has presented the show honoring Broadway’s best, re-up for the next five years? The official explanation came in a statement last week from CBS executive Jack Sussman: “We’re pleased to renew our commitment to the performing arts and look forward to continuing this great and long-standing partnership.” But there are other strategic factors at work regarding the program, which this year will be broadcast on Sunday, June 9, from Radio City Musical Hall. Leslie Moonves, the head of the CBS Corporation, and his wife Julie Chen, are mad for the theater. More importantly, “event” programming appeals to advertisers as these shows tend to be relatively immune to the DVR option. Award programs tend to congeal almost as soon as the last honors are given out and the blogosphere starts ricocheting with sour grapes, huzzahs, and/or I-told-you-sos.
Despite the low-ratings, the Tonys are considered a prestige event, making for a natural alliance with a partner that once considered itself to be the “Tiffany” of networks. The telecast has been showered with Emmy Awards for its longtime producers, Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss of Cherry Entertainment, as well as a couple for genial host Harris. It hasn’t been an easy assignment, bedeviled by a Tony nominating committee that has insisted on honoring what they consider quality over celebrity. They overlooked numerous marquee names who were a part of this season and who might have drawn more viewers to the program. In a highly competitive season, those iced out included Scarlett Johansson (“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”), Bette Midler (“I’ll Eat You Last”), Jessica Chastain (“The Heiress”), Katie Holmes (“Dead Accounts”), Alec Baldwin (“Orphans”), Al Pacino (“Glengarry Glen Ross”), Sigourney Weaver (“Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike”), and Alan Cumming (“Macbeth”). Moreover, “Motown, the Musical,” which is raking in millions at the box office, failed to win a Best Musical nod. Consequently, it is not guaranteed the crucial four-minute allotment of TV time given to each of that category’s nominees. Nonetheless, it’s certain that Kirshner and Weiss will find a way to showcase a production whose powerful name brand is defying the dismal critical notices it received last month.
The Tonys, jointly presented by the American Theatre Wing and the Broadway League, can also rely on a very loyal audience. According to demographics, it skews older but also much richer. (Who else can afford the $155 per ticket price tag for musicals?) That, in turn, attracts advertisers of luxury goods. And six million in viewership isn’t exactly chopped liver, especially compared to some other programs. The highly-promoted and expensive NBC-TV series “Smash” concluded its controversial run on Sunday, May 26, with a two-hour finale that drew a mere 2.4 million viewers. What was the setting for this bow of a show about crazy folks putting on Broadway musicals? Why the Tony Awards, of course.
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