Will 'Sopranos' whack Tonys awards show? tickets anyone ?

Will 'Sopranos' whack Tonys awards show?
LindaWiner

Broadway has just finished one of its most fiercely competitive seasons in years. When the nominations for Tony Awards are announced Tuesday, however, the most brutal contest won't make the list in any category.

Call it Tony versus Tony: that's Tony Soprano against the Tony Awards.

In a scheduling coincidence that seems a bit like a death wish, CBS will run its annual Tony telecast June 10 - the same night as the final episode of HBO's eight-year saga of "The Sopranos."

Perhaps it is unrealistic to expect Broadway to change the date of its biggest national marketing tool because of a series about mobsters on pay cable. Granted, the schedule conflict may not have been apparent early on, before taping of the long-delayed final episodes was further postponed while James Gandolfini, Big Tony himself, recuperated from knee surgery last January.

But Broadway has been struggling for decades to brand itself on the distracted consciousness of pop culture. Despite the slide in ratings for the first three of the final nine episodes of "The Sopranos," anyone with the slightest interest will tune in to see the final whack.

Faced with an oncoming truck, theater producers and execs at Radio City Music Hall and CBS might have been wise to have made a run for their lives and switched the date. Of course, getting out of the way would have meant a blitzkrieg of costly headaches. But can you think of a smarter headline than "Broadway Dodges a Bullet"?

Elizabeth McCann, managing producer of the Tony telecast for the past five years, chuckles at the suggestion that the show could have been reslotted to avoid a mob hit. "CBS picks the date," she says, acknowledging that "The Sopranos" will have an "enormous audience" on her big night. "Still, we have survived basketball finals and 'Desperate Housewives' at its peak."

The live Tony ceremony also has to contend again this year with the boggling traffic logistics of the Puerto Rican Day Parade, which falls on the same Sunday.

Putting the best face on the likely ratings disaster, McCann says, "People who watch the Tonys will probably still watch the Tonys."

But those are not the people Broadway most craves. The telecast, once a popular family attraction, had just begun to stop a long-term slide in national viewership. The 2006 show was watched by 7.8 million people, up 20 percent over the previous two years.

That isn't much compared to the 1997 spike to 9.6 million at the peak of Rosie O'Donnell's reign as Broadway's biggest booster. Put even that tally next to 1977's, when an audience of 11.3 million was considered disappointing, and you see how far interest has drifted.

Much has been made about audiences abandoning "The Sopranos" this season. For the third week in a row, viewership has fallen. Last Sunday averaged 6.8 million watchers, down from 7.7 million for the season opener.

As "Sopranos" fans know, however, we don't have to reschedule Sunday dinner to catch the 9 p.m. show anymore. Almost 16 percent of Americans have TiVo or DVR, compared with only 5 percent this time last year. Those who lack the capability to "time-shift" digitally can catch any of five repeat airings during the week.

Also, starting each Monday, HBO's 30 million subscribers can watch that Sunday's episode anytime by clicking "On Demand."

How many people will wait to find out whether Tony Soprano dies or goes into the witness protection program? How many will watch HBO and tape the Tony Awards to see the old news another day? And the winner is ... ? Guess.