Sunday night's Emmys telecast on ABC attracted a bigger audience than a year earlier as viewers watched new psychological thriller Homeland secure major wins and shut out acclaimed drama Mad Men.
The television industry's highest honours grabbed an average of 13.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen data released Monday. The audience was six per cent larger than the 12.4 million who tuned in a year ago, when Fox broadcast the awards, Walt Disney-owned ABC said.
NBC's Sunday Night Football game between the Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots won the night as expected, pulling in about 19.8 million viewers. The weekly Sunday-evening football matchup consistently ranks as the top program in its time slot.
Ratings for entertainment awards programs have been in decline for years as they struggle to stay relevant to viewers. Many of the most-honoured TV dramas and comedies draw relatively small audiences, according to Nielsen data.
ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel hosted this year's Emmy awards, which honoured Homeland with six trophies and left Mad Men empty-handed despite 17 nominations.
Homeland takes place in a post-9/11 world and stars Claire Danes as a CIA officer pursuing a possible rogue Marine played by Damian Lewis. Mad Men explores the business and personal lives of 1960s advertising executives.
Modern Family, ABC's show about the chaotic lives of three related couples and their children, won best comedy series for a third year and supporting actor Emmys for Eric Stonestreet (who plays Cameron Tucker) and Julie Bowen (who plays Claire Dunphy), as well as a directing award.
Two and A Half Men's Jon Cryer was the surprise winner in the comedy actor category, where Jim Parsons of Big Bang Theory and comedian Louis C.K. were favoured.
In what was seen as a tight race for lead comedy actress, Julia Louis-Dreyfus beat Girls star Lena Dunham, Amy Poehler, New Girl Zooey Deschanel and Tina Fey for the Emmy for her turn as a frustrated U.S. vicepresident in the satirical HBO show Veep.
Game Change, the HBO story of Sarah Palin's entry into the 2008 U.S. vice-presidential race, was also a big winner, taking the Emmy for best miniseries, writing, directing and acting for star Julianne Moore.
The Amazing Race won for the best reality series Emmy for the ninth time, while Tom Bergeron won best reality host for Dancing with the Stars.
