LOS ANGELES, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- The 56th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards Broadcast Sunday on ABC averaged an all-time low of an estimated 14 million viewers.
E!online reported Monday that despite the appearance of actors such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Meryl Steep and James Gandolfini, CBS won the time slot against the awards show.
In two years, the Emmys' audience has decreased from 20 million viewers from NBC's 2002 broadcast to 17.9 million viewers for last year's Fox presentation, to 14 million viewers this year.
Nielsen Media Research said Sunday's 14 million viewers was smaller than the 14.4 million who watched the Emmys in 1987, broadcast for the first time on Fox.
ABC said the show's diminished audience was due to stiffer competition on the other networks, E!online reported. CBS broadcast NFL football and reruns of "CSI" and "Without a Trace", while NBC repeated the movie "Titanic." Fox broadcast a repeat of the movie "Speed" and the news.
