Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesNeil Patrick Harris is good for business!
The 65th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards' three-hour telecast, hosted by the How I Met Your Mother star, attracted 17.3 million viewers and a 4.3 demo rating, the show's largest audience since 2005, and its best demo rating since Conan O'Brien hosted in 2006. Harris even bested himself as the 2009 telecast, which he hosted, only brought in 13.3 million viewers.
Compared to the Jimmy Kimmel-hosted 2012 Emmys, this year's show was up 33 percent in viewers and 26 percent in the all-important demo. Of course, Harris did receive some help in his quest for ratings domination.
Helping Harris out? Four former Emmy hosts! Kimmel, O'Brien, Jane Lynch and Jimmy Fallon all made appearances during the Dr. Horrible star's opener.
To compare numbers, Lynch's 2011 telecast attracted 12.4 million viewers and 4.2 rating, while Fallon brought in 13.5 million viewers and a 4.1 demo rating in 2010.
But even though ratings were up, it seems not everyone enjoyed the 2013 Emmys. Piers Morgan tweeted, "Zzzzzzzz (again) #Emmys," while Bachelor ghost Chris Harrison said, "#CBS is killing it tonight, no seriously you're killing the #Emmys." Ouch!