Numbers of television viewers who watched CBS' live coverage of the 61st annual Primetime Emmy Awards was up 8 percent from last year's near-record low, according to preliminary figures released Monday by Nielsen Media Research.

Sunday's three-hour ceremony hosted by "How I Met Your Mother" star Neil Patrick Harris from the Nokia Theatre averaged 13.32 million viewers, the most since 2006, the last time it did not have to compete against an NBC NFL "Sunday Night Football" game.

The 2008 ceremony, which aired on ABC, averaged 12.34 million viewers, slightly more than the 12.3 million for Fox Broadcasting' s coverage of the 1990 ceremony, the least-watched since individual viewership figures began being released on an annual basis in 1982.

The live broadcast of the Primetime Emmy Awards rotate among the four major broadcast networks.

Viewership was up 11 percent among viewers aged 18-49, the group ABC, Fox Broadcasting and NBC target and advertisers covet.

Among the factors cited for the increased viewership was Harris' hosting, which drew extensive praise from critics. The 2008 ceremony was hosted by the five nominees for best reality or reality-competition series hosts -- Tom Bergeron, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel, Jeff Probst and Ryan Seacrest -- which drew harsh criticism.

The Emmy viewership jump follows increased viewership for this year's Academy Awards, Grammys, Academy of Country Music Awards and Tonys. Viewership for awards shows had generally dropped in recent years because the proliferation of such telecasts makes each less unique. The increased amount of celebrity coverage in various programming also lessens the uniqueness of seeing celebrities on television.

Like all forms of television programming, awards shows are also impacted by growing competition from cable TV, new networks, the Internet and home video.

Final ratings figures are scheduled to be released Tuesday.

(Xinhua News Agency September 22, 2009)