The 2025 Tony Awards saw a substantial rise in viewership compared to last year’s telecast on CBS.
According to Nielsen’s time-zone adjusted data, the awards show drew 4.85 million viewers for CBS. That is up from 3.53 million in 2024, an increase of approximately 38%. That is also the largest audience for the Tonys since 2019, when the telecast that year nabbed 5.4 million viewers.
CBS parent company Paramount also claimed that the show drew its largest ever streaming audience on Paramount+ to the tune of a 208% increase over last year, though actual streaming viewership numbers were not disclosed. The show was up across the major demographics compared to last year as well, with CBS saying the show was up 107% in adults 18-49, 147% in adults 18-34, and 91% in adults 25-54.
Read the full 2025 Tony Awards winners list here.
The 78th Annual Tony Awards aired for just over three hours on CBS. Hosted by Cynthia Erivo, the ceremony saw musical “Maybe Happy Ending” emerge triumphant with the best musical award, with the show also winning for best lead actor in a musical (Darren Criss), best direction for a musical (Michael Arden), and best book of a musical (Will Aronson and Hue Park). “Maybe Happy Ending” took home six awards in total, the most of any show honored this year.
Other big winners included “Sunset Boulevard” star Nicole Scherzinger, who beat out “Gypsy‘s” Audra McDonald to be named best leading actress in a musical. Sarah Snook was named best leading actress in a play for “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” a one-woman show in which she plays 26 different roles. Best leading actor in a play went to Cole Escola for “Oh, Mary!” with Escola also having written the play.
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