all of the above (and this coming from someone who had his left eye focused on the Tonys and his right eye focused on the Yankees game all night). A few other considerations:
1. The freakishly low numbers this year are presumably a function of covid and the shutdown and, at this point at least, ought not be viewed as a trend. The trend is there over a reasonable sample, and of course it is down. There is no question that not very many Americans are interested even in the best years.
2.The state of the Tonys (these were awards that reached back to 1.5-2 years for those who have been in a cave) does not engender much motivation, nor does the competition. If the 2020 world series had been postponed until now, the audience would also be smaller.
3. My sense (maybe I am wrong, I haven't check) is that CBS did not promote the show as much as in recent years.
4. The Tonys have in recent memory drawn on interest from folks planning a trip over the next 6 months or year. As much as everyone wants them back asap, the probable best case scenario is roughly in proportion to the viewership. |
