With Neil Patrick Harris from the popular CBS sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" as host, CBS’ broadcast of the Primetime Emmy Awards rebounded in the ratings last night.

According to a statement released by CBS:

“The Emmy Awards was second in households (8.7/14), viewers (13.32 million), adults 25-54 (4.9/11), adults 18-49 (4.2/11) and adults 18-34 (3.4/10) – all behind NBC’s coverage of the NFL matchup pitting the New York Giants against the Dallas Cowboys at the new Cowboys Stadium.

"Compared to last year’s ceremony, the Emmy Awards was up 6% in both households (from 8.2/13) and adults 18-34 (from 3.2/08), up 9% in adults 25-54 (from 4.5/10) and up 11% in adults 18-49 (from 3.8/09)."

"The 61st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards" was seen by 13.3 million viewers, up almost a million viewers from last year. 

Last year’s show, broadcast by Fox and hosted by a team of five reality show hosts, was the lowest-rated Emmys in history in the 18-49 demo. Other numbers last year were about par with 1990 numbers. So while the show did better this year, it’s still having problems drawing a significant mass audience.

CBS also said this year’s edition was the Emmy Awards’ best delivery in households and viewers since 2006 (when it did not air against football), in key demos since 2007.

The data is from preliminary national numbers measured by Nielsen Media Research and released by CBS.

–Chuck Ross