The 2025 Tony Awards marked a strong increase in viewership. Hosted by Cynthia Erivo, the 78th annual Tony Awards ceremony garnered 4.85 million viewers (according to Nielsen data), which represents a 38.2% increase from 2024, when 3.5 million viewers tuned in.
This also marks the highest Tonys viewership since the pandemic. Tonys viewership hit a low in 2021, with 2.8 million viewers; the 2025 ceremony marks a 73.2% jump over 2021.
This year’s Tonys also proved a boon across social media channels. Tony Awards social media accounts tallied 5.2 billion social impressions (an increase of 55% from 2024 and the highest in three years) and 161,900 mentions (up 75% from 2024). The Tonys’ TikTok account received 3.4 million views, while 29.9 million views were accumulated on Instagram. Since the morning of June 8, there have been 197+ posts and 171,000 new followers (across owned channels) since June 6, according to Super Awesome Friends, a firm which handled the official social media for the Tonys.
The 78th annual Tony Awards celebrated achievement in theater across the 2024-2025 Broadway season, which was the highest-grossing and second-best-attended (after 2018-2019) in recorded history. While the season hit pre-pandemic benchmarks, Tony viewership is not quite there yet. This year’s 4.85 million is the highest since 2019, which clocked 5.4 million viewers. Nevertheless, since the pandemic, Tony viewership has grown every year except for one (2024).
The 2025 Tonys featured a reunion performance of the original cast of “Hamilton,” which took home 11 Tonys in 2016, a year whose broadcast netted 8.7 million viewers.
Key wins at the 2025 Tonys included Best Musical “Maybe Happy Ending,” Best Play “Purpose,” Best Revival of a Musical “Sunset Boulevard” and Best Revival of a Play “Eureka Day.” The full list of winners can be found here and an analysis of trends and takeaways among the winners can be read here.
The Tony Awards are presented by the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.
