Emmys host Jimmy Kimmel downplayed record-low viewership for the awards show that aired Sunday night.
In his return to late-night television on Monday, the comedian for ABC joked about hosting the all-time worst-rated Emmys show in history, arguing that it was actually the “highest-rated” virtual Emmys ever.
“Well, I hosted the virtual Emmys last night. They’re saying it was the highest-rated Emmys ever,” Kimmel said. “Oh, the lowest? Oh, all right. Well, we set a record, let’s just say that.”
Only 6.1 million viewers tuned in to watch the Emmys on Sunday night, according to Nielsen Ratings. The 72nd annual Emmy Awards lost out to Sunday Night Football, which drew more than twice the number of viewers.
This year’s Emmys broke the previous record for lowest viewership by 14% when Fox hosted the show last year and only drew 7 million total viewers.
In one of the most talked-about segments of this year’s Emmys, actress Jennifer Aniston struggled to put out a staged fire during one of the award announcements. After several failed attempts to put out the trash can blaze with a fire extinguisher, a producer can be heard off camera yelling for her to “put it out” before she eventually douses the flames.
