The Emmys broadcast last Sunday on NBC attracted 13.5 million viewers, making it the largest non-sports audience so far in 2010, at least since the airing of FOX’s American Idol finale on May 26. This is also the largest audience the Emmys has had in four years but it’s still over a quarter less than what the awards attracted 10 years ago.

The Oscars also had a similar ratings rebound this year, garnering the highest ratings since 2005. The Oscars are also off their ratings highs of 50+ million viewers (achieved in 1983 and 1998), but althought they’re down the Oscars haven’t lost as much audience percentagewise as the Emmys.

In any case as far as viewership these television events pale in comparison to major sporting events. This year the Superbowl attracted a record audience of 106.5 million, well over double the audience of the Oscars and close to ten times that of the Emmys. Incidentally the World Cup Final had only 24.3 million viewers, which places it in third place behind the Oscars.