The 47th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards were supposed to be bigger than ever -- a three-day ceremony, a new broadcast home, and lots of celebration and sparkle. As we know now, 2020 had other ideas, and many things have had to change. The Daytime Emmys were forced to adapt, and the ceremony went totally virtual, making the Daytime Emmys the first major awards show to take place with the hosts, presenters, and recipients all at home. The show must, as they say, go on -- and it did.
"Tonight, we did not let the worldwide pandemic of COVID-19 keep up from honoring some of the most talented contributors to our Daytime Television community," said Adam Sharp, President & CEO, NATAS. "We celebrated not only the best programming and performances of the last year, but reflected on the legacy of Daytime's biggest moments and icons."
In an unexpected twist worthy of any soap opera, the Daytime Emmys were broadcast on network television for the first time since 2011. CBS stepped in to broadcast the awards show, a show that has languished on unknown online streaming services and lesser-known cable channels. And fans ate it up. The 2020 Daytime Emmy Awards averaged 3.1 million live and same day viewers -- up sharply from the roughly 900,000 total viewers that tuned in when Pop aired the ceremony in 2015. The last CBS broadcast in 2011 drew 5.5 million viewers. This year's viewer total is expected to jump when DVR watching is tabulated.
With no Red Carpet and the need to pretape speeches in order to prevent technical snafus, the Daytime Emmys easily could have lost the special sparkle that makes the ceremony so much fun. Instead, in addition to once again honoring the best that daytime television has to offer, the ceremony showcased the resolve that so many Americans have been showing: We will get through this, and we are stronger when all of us are together.
