Despite star power, tough competition dims lights slightly for Tony Awards in TV ratings

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Despite star power, a ratings dip for Tony Awards

NEW YORK — The Tony Awards show is down in the ratings despite a show stocked with the star power of Denzel Washington, Scarlett Johansson and Green Day.

The Nielsen Co. says the annual show celebrating Broadway’s best was seen by an estimated 7 million people on Sunday night. That’s down 6 percent from the 2009 audience.

Still, this year’s show with Sean Hayes as host had nearly three quarters of a million more people watching than the Tonys did two years ago.

The Tonys had some strong competition Sunday. The Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers played in the fifth game of the NBA Finals, and HBO debuted a new season of its popular drama “True Blood.”