Well, last Sunday's Tony Awards are now being pegged as the lowest-rated ever. The show averaged a 5.6 household rating and 9 share which, according to Nielsen fast nationals, is down from last year's 6.3/10 and even beneath the previous record low 6.2/10, which was the year before. By contrast, the NBA game opposite notched a 16.9 rating and a 27 share. I'm not sure any supporter of the Tony Awards can spin this one as anything but a disaster.
I got to thinking: What would I do with the broadcast? The best solution I can come up with would be quite a change, and it would certainly offend some members of the Broadway community. But if they're determined to keep this thing on one of the major networks, it may take something of the sort.
My idea would be to do the show in two parts, both on the same day. Nominees and important members of the theatrical community would be able to get tickets to both and the extra tickets, if any, would be distributed to enthusiastic theatre fans. Sunday afternoon, starting around 2:00, they'd give out 18 of the 23 awards in a show that would be televised live on PBS (or some cable network) and allowed to run two hours, plus a little overage, thereby allowing plenty of time for presenters to present and winners to thank. There would be "behind-the-scenes" and historical clips, such as are seen on the current PBS "first hour" and there would be a minimum of production numbers. This would end by 4:15.
At 8:00, the second show — the one done for CBS — would take place in the same theater. Most of this show would consist of generous helpings of scenes from current Broadway offerings and perhaps a few "re-creations" of great moments from the past. The latter might make it possible to secure some important stars whose presence might matter to the more casual viewer at home. In any case, the mix of the evening show would be more entertainment than awards show. In the first hour, two awards would be presented and then there'd be three more at the very end. The rest of the show would be entertainment, plus two or three long montages that would summarize the 18 awards from the matinee. They do a montage now that recapitulates the PBS hour but what I have in mind would show more of each acceptance speech.
Notice also that I'm suggesting starting the evening ceremony at 8:00 even though it doesn't go on the air until 9:00 in the East. The delay would allow a bit of on-the-fly editing if someone takes an unanticipated hunk of time. That way, no scene would have to be dropped and it wouldn't be necessary for everyone to talk like a tobacco auctioneer at the end to get it all in. The tape delay, along with the afternoon broadcast, would of course kill any suspense about who wins but I'm assuming that hardcore theatre fans would watch anyway, and the casual fans aren't wagering on who's going to be named Best Choreographer. The five awards presented on the air would be Best Musical, Best Play, Best Revival of a Musical and then the two most interesting of the remaining competitions, probably in Leading Actor/Actress categories. (This would not be completely unprecedented in the annals of televised awards shows. The Daytime Emmy Awards select certain categories to be on the broadcast, whereas others are not televised at all.)
There would be some moaning, of course. There always is. But under this plan, every award would be televised and, if winners kept their acceptance speeches short, most of what they say would get on in prime-time. Someone who wanted to (or had to) attend both sections would be sitting quite a long time. Still, I'm not sure four hours — with a long dinner break in the middle — is that much worse than the current three hours with no break. The last two hours would be a lot more fun than they are now. The biggest complication would be that shows that do a Sunday matinee would be asked to move that performance to whatever evening they're dark…but they'd have plenty of advance notice and they already do things like that to accommodate holidays.
Would this make the Tonys into a ratings smash? No. I don't think even full frontal nudity could make that occur. The overwhelming majority of Americans don't go to Broadway shows, aren't going to go to Broadway shows and don't have the slightest interest in seeing people they never heard of win for shows they never heard of. That is why, if the broadcast is to remain on CBS, they ought to trim that aspect of it to the bare bones. Most people still wouldn't watch but I can't see that the plan I've outlined here could possibly hurt. And if it makes for a more entertaining show, it might even help.
One last note about Elaine Stritch getting chopped off during her acceptance speech. While writing the above, I had David Letterman on and heard him scolding CBS for their actions. He was doing a bit — he ran a clip they'd edited so that Stritch got to say nothing at all — but he did seem to think it was rude of the network. One might note that Mr. Letterman's new contract limits the network's freedom to let a prime-time show run over, thereby delaying the beginning of his program. He's not the reason the Tonys have to end sharply at 11:00. (They're on Sundays, he isn't and, besides, local news shows also insist.) But Dave probably wouldn't let her speech nudge his show to later than its usual 11:35 start. He also probably wouldn't book Elaine Stritch as a guest.