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The Emmy Awards break last year's all time low ratings

Host Jimmy Kimmel brought politics and social justice issues into the spotlight.

Published: September 23, 2020 10:20am

Updated: September 23, 2020 5:47pm

This year's Emmy Awards, which were aired Sunday on TV, had record-low ratings. 

This year's show, in which social-justice reform was a major theme, dropping 14% in overall viewership and 33% among viewers 18-49 from the previous all-time low last year. 

The total number of 2020 viewers was 6.1 million, down from 6.9 million in 2019 with a rating of 1.2 for adults 18-49.

The event awards the year's best TV shows.

Jimmy Kimmel hosted the 72nd primetime Emmy Awards evening with half of it being virtual. The live show aired at the same time as Sunday Night Football and the NBA playoffs. Kimmel spoke in an empty room at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. “This isn’t a MAGA rally. This is the Emmys,” he said.

Anthony Anderson, the star of “Black-ish” joined Kimmel in-person to present the awards.

“This was supposed to be the blackest Emmys ever,” Anderson said. The two began to chant “Black Lives Matter” together with Anderson telling Kimmel to “say it so that [Vice President] Mike Pence can hear it.”

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