David Benioff, center left, and D.B. Weiss accept the award for outstanding drama series for “Game Of Thrones” at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
NEW YORK — Emmy Awards viewership plunged to 6.9 million people, a drop of 32 percent from last year.
The Nielsen company says it’s the first time ever that viewership for television’s biggest awards show has slipped below 10 million viewers.
The show, telecast Sunday night on Fox, had no host and competed with a popular NFL game on NBC.
The ratings illustrate a growing disconnect between the TV-viewing public and television academy voters. While a popular series like HBO’s “Game of Thrones” won best drama, the less-seen Amazon series “Fleabag” earned best comedy.
Last year’s Emmys, with 10.2 million viewers, had been the previous least-watched edition of the Emmys.
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