Emmys hit ratings low

Gary Levin | USA TODAY

Andy Samberg's first stint hosting TV's top awards show proved to be not much of a draw.

The 67th Primetime Emmys averaged 11.9 million viewers Sunday night, a record low that was down 24% from last year's 15.6 million. (The 66th awards aired on a Monday in late August on NBC, with Seth Meyers, another former Saturday Night Live star, hosting.) And among young-adult viewers, the broadcast dipped 14% from last year, according to preliminary Nielsen ratings.

Fox blamed NBC's competing NFL Sunday Night Football coverage, which will claim more than 20 million. But the network also fumbled an even larger lead-in from a late-afternoon game who didn't stick around for the trophy show. The Emmys' previous low-water mark was 12.3 million in 2008, when the TV season was crippled by a prolonged writers' strike.

Unlike other awards shows, the Emmys rotate each year among the top four broadcast networks, and this year it was Fox's turn. It picked as host the star of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and he received mostly favorable reviews. Yet HBO cleaned up at the awards, winning best comedy (Veep), best drama (Game of Thrones) and best limited series (Olive Kitteridge) among other top honors.