What did you think about this year’s Tony Awards? “Survey says . . .”

Before I get to the results of my Tony Awards Telecast Satisfaction Survey, let’s start with a little data about the survey itself.  I’ve been doing these surveys for five years now, and this year, we had more than DOUBLE the entries of any other year.

So while the Tony ratings may have slipped this year, ours got twice as good.  🙂

Oh, and side note . . . for all you folks out there that are blaming the Tony Awards rating slippage on the fact that an NBA game was on, I got news for you.  Hold onto your b-balls because this one is a shocker.  The Tony Awards and the NBA don’t share the same audience.  I know, I know, that statement is as shocking as someone unexpected dying in the season finale of Game of Thrones, but it’s true.  A sports game is not stealing our audience.

Ok, moving on . . . let’s see how those that tuned into the telecast (who I’m sure couldn’t have cared less about who was even playing in the game or what sport was even being played) thought of the show!

  • 91.80% of Producer’s Perspective readers watched the Awards
    • NOTE FROM KEN:  Next year we’ll ask how you watched – online, on tv, on your phone – and also if you were on your computer as well, reading Facebook, watching people like me live tweet, etc.
    • ANOTHER NOTE FROM KEN:  I’m mad at the other 8.20% of you who didn’t watch.  Next year I’ll ask why you didn’t, and you best have a good excuse.  I’m talking your power went out and the President of the United Nations came over for some tea or something.
  • On a scale of 1 to 10, here’s how you rated the Tony Awards Telecast:
    • 6.05% gave it a 10
    • 12.90% gave it a 9
    • 27.02% gave it an 8
    • That’s a 45.97% “8 or better” rating, compared to last year’s “8 or better” rating of 50.82%
  • Compared to last year’s telecast:
    • 11.59% said it was much better
    • 34.50% said it was better
    • 24.39% said it was the same
    • 24.12% said it was worse
    • 5.39% said it was much worse
  • On a scale of 1 to 10, here’s how you rated the hosts:
    • 14.97% gave them a 10
    • 15.37% gave them a 9
    • 20.54% gave them an 8
  • Your favorite part of the telecast was:
    • The opening number – 3.08%
    • Production numbers – 46.05%
    • The hosts – 8.57%
    • Finding out who won – 20.48%
    • Acceptance speeches – 14.19%
    • The presenters – 1.20%
    • Other – 6.43%
  • Your least favorite part of the telecast was . . .
    • . . . not seeing the Creative Awards live.
  • Your favorite musical number was . . .
    • Fun Home – 37.27%
    • Something Rotten! – 28.15%
    • The King and I – 8.58%
    • An American in Paris – 6.70%
    • On The Town– 6.43%
    • It Shoulda Been You – 4.83%
    • Finding Neverland – 2.95%
    • On The Twentieth Century – 2.55%
    • The Visit – 1.34%
    • Jersey Boys – 0.67%
    • Gigi – 0.54%
      • NOTE FROM KEN:  This result shocked me.  The stand out favorite production number, Fun Home‘s “Keys”,  wasn’t a “production number” at all.
  • We asked what you would suggest to the Tony Producers to make it a more exciting evening.  Here are some quotes that represent the most common themes I heard:
    • “Include actual scenes from the Best Play and Best Play revival nominees.”
    • “Put the tech awards & special awards back on prime-time broadcast!”
    • “Bring NPH back!”

Since we have been studying your thoughts on the Tonys for half a decade now, I thought I’d pull some of this data together into a graph, and show you what the trend has been over the last five years.

Below is that graph – indicating what percentage of you have given the show an “8 or better” (which is what I call a “positive rating”) since 2011.

Let’s take a look!

graph

Ok, so, you’d like to see things get a bit better.  Now here comes the hard part.  Give me your comments below on how to get that “8 or better” back up to the 90% it was in 2011 (that was NPH’s 2nd time hosting and the year that Book of Mormon won almost everything).  Because if you want something to get better, you gotta take an active part in the process.

So, as Coalhouse wails away in Ragtime, “Let them hear you!”  Enter your comments below.

 

(Got a comment? I love ‘em, so comment below! Email Subscribers, click here then scroll down to say what’s on your mind!)

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FUN STUFF:

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Ken created one of the first Broadway podcasts, recording over 250 episodes over 7 years. It features interviews with A-listers in the theater about how they “made it”, including 2 Pulitzer Prize Winners, 7 Academy Award Winners and 76 Tony Award winners. Notable guests include Pasek & Paul, Kenny Leon, Lynn Ahrens and more.

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