The 36th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards will air this Sunday night at 8pm on the CW. It's pretty much a guarantee that the ratings will sink below last year's record lows (4.1 household rating, 5.38 million viewers).
Daytime Emmy Awards Nielsen ratings 1991-2008:
| Day | Date | Time | Network | HH Rating | Share | Homes | Viewers |
| FRI | 6/20/2008* | 8:00-10:00PM | ABC | 4.1 | 8 | 4,574,000 | 5,383,000 |
| FRI | 6/15/2007* | 8:58-11:00PM | CBS | 5.9 | 11 | 6,620,000 | 8,327,000 |
| FRI | 4/28/2006* | 8:00-11:00PM | ABC | 4.5 | 8 | 5,008,000 | 6,085,000 |
| FRI | 5/20/2005 | 9:00-11:00PM | CBS | 5.5 | 10 | 6,061,000 | 7,618,000 |
| FRI | 5/21/2004 | 9:00-11:00PM | NBC | 6 | 10.9 | 6,518,000 | 8,385,000 |
| FRI | 5/16/2003 | 8:00-11:00PM | ABC | 6.3 | 11 | 6,726,000 | 8,633,000 |
| FRI | 5/17/2002 | 9:00-11:00PM | CBS | 6.9 | 12 | 7,275,000 | 10,082,000 |
| FRI | 5/18/2001 | 9:00-11:00PM | NBC | 7.9 | 14 | 8,041,000 | 10,277,000 |
| FRI | 5/19/2000 | 9:00-11:00PM | ABC | 9.1 | 16 | 9,184,000 | 12,771,000 |
| FRI | 5/21/1999 | 9:00-11:00PM | CBS | 10.4 | 19 | 10,338,000 | 14,230,000 |
| FRI | 5/15/1998 | 9:00-11:00PM | NBC | 10.2 | 19 | 9,953,000 | 13,095,000 |
| THU | 5/21/1997 | 8:00 - 10:00PM | ABC | 11.8 | 20 | 11,420,000 | 15,839,540 |
| THU | 5/22/1996 | 9:00 - 11:00PM | CBS | 11.4 | 19 | 10,930,000 | 15,105,260 |
| WED | 5/19/1995 | 9:00 - 11:00PM | NBC | 10.2 | 18 | 9,730,000 | 13,699,840 |
| WED | 5/25/1994 | 9:00 - 11:03PM | ABC | 14.1 | 22 | 13,280,000 | 18,897,440 |
| WED | 5/26/1993 | 9:00 - 11:01PM | ABC | 16.4 | 27 | 15,270,000 | 21,958,260 |
| TUE | 6/23/1992 | 9:00 - 11:05PM | NBC | 15.1 | 26 | 13,910,000 | 20,280,780 |
| THU | 6/27/1991 | 9:00 - 11:00PM | CBS | 13.5 | 25 | 12,570,000 | 18,855,000 |
| Source: NTI Pocketpieces, Nielsen Audience Composition Reports and Nielsen Galaxy Explorer | ||||||||
| Copyright 2009 The Nielsen Company | ||||||||
| * Live +Same Day Viewing Estimates On This Page Include DVR Playback On The Same Day, Defined As 3AM-3AM | ||||||||
There wound up being a lot of drama, even getting this year's awards on the air. It seems fitting:
The saga of the Daytime Emmys sounds a lot like -- well, a soap opera.
It starts with the tangled relationship between the Daytime Emmys and broadcasters. After years of dismal ratings for the telecast, last year's show dropped 40% to a mere 5.4, and the Big Three networks announced a divorce. It was a breakup with the seismic resonance of a Luke and Laura split ... and by the time NATAS president and chief marketing officer Frank Radice rode in to fix things in December, it was also embarrassing: The show had no home for 2009.
"We're called the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences," he says. "I felt strongly the Daytime Emmy Awards needed to be on television."
And as with a proper soap story, the months that followed featured last-minute rescues, hidden agendas and even a surprise plot twist. But the 36th annual Daytime Emmy Awards prevailed and airs Sunday on the CW.
| Day | Date | Time | Network | HH Rating | Share | Homes | Viewers |
| FRI | 6/20/2008* | 8:00-10:00PM | ABC | 4.1 | 8 | 4,574,000 | 5,383,000 |
| FRI | 6/15/2007* | 8:58-11:00PM | CBS | 5.9 | 11 | 6,620,000 | 8,327,000 |
| FRI | 4/28/2006* | 8:00-11:00PM | ABC | 4.5 | 8 | 5,008,000 | 6,085,000 |
| FRI | 5/20/2005 | 9:00-11:00PM | CBS | 5.5 | 10 | 6,061,000 | 7,618,000 |
| FRI | 5/21/2004 | 9:00-11:00PM | NBC | 6 | 10.9 | 6,518,000 | 8,385,000 |
| FRI | 5/16/2003 | 8:00-11:00PM | ABC | 6.3 | 11 | 6,726,000 | 8,633,000 |
| FRI | 5/17/2002 | 9:00-11:00PM | CBS | 6.9 | 12 | 7,275,000 | 10,082,000 |
| FRI | 5/18/2001 | 9:00-11:00PM | NBC | 7.9 | 14 | 8,041,000 | 10,277,000 |
| FRI | 5/19/2000 | 9:00-11:00PM | ABC | 9.1 | 16 | 9,184,000 | 12,771,000 |
| FRI | 5/21/1999 | 9:00-11:00PM | CBS | 10.4 | 19 | 10,338,000 | 14,230,000 |
| FRI | 5/15/1998 | 9:00-11:00PM | NBC | 10.2 | 19 | 9,953,000 | 13,095,000 |
| THU | 5/21/1997 | 8:00 - 10:00PM | ABC | 11.8 | 20 | 11,420,000 | 15,839,540 |
| THU | 5/22/1996 | 9:00 - 11:00PM | CBS | 11.4 | 19 | 10,930,000 | 15,105,260 |
| WED | 5/19/1995 | 9:00 - 11:00PM | NBC | 10.2 | 18 | 9,730,000 | 13,699,840 |
| WED | 5/25/1994 | 9:00 - 11:03PM | ABC | 14.1 | 22 | 13,280,000 | 18,897,440 |
| WED | 5/26/1993 | 9:00 - 11:01PM | ABC | 16.4 | 27 | 15,270,000 | 21,958,260 |
| TUE | 6/23/1992 | 9:00 - 11:05PM | NBC | 15.1 | 26 | 13,910,000 | 20,280,780 |
| THU | 6/27/1991 | 9:00 - 11:00PM | CBS | 13.5 | 25 | 12,570,000 | 18,855,000 |