After scraping the bottom of the barrel last year, viewership of the Primetime Emmy Awards telecast rebounded significantly Sunday with a host of fresh faces in the nominees mix and fan favorite Ellen DeGeneres at the helm as host of the three-hour CBS telecast.

The 57th annual Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, which ran from 8 p.m. to just past 11 p.m., averaged about 18.6 million viewers and a 6.0 rating/15 share in the key adults 18-49 demographic, according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen Media Research. (Final national ratings for Sunday won't be available until today.

That's up by more than 4.5 million viewers and three demographic share points from last year, when Emmy ratings hit their lowest ebb in more than 12 years with a meager average of 13.8 million viewers and a 4.6/12 in adults 18-49. Ironically, the 2004 Emmycast ran on ABC, just as the network was on the cusp of a rebound with two new shows, "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives," that made a splash at Sunday's awards, particularly "Lost" and its upset victory for drama series.

According to CBS, Sunday's telecast was the most-watched Emmy ceremony since 2002. However, in the adults 18-49 demo, Sunday's telecast fell short of the 7.0/18 average the Emmycast delivered in 2003, when it aired on Fox.

On Sunday, Emmy viewership peaked between 8:30-9 p.m. at 20.4 million viewers and a 6.6/17 in adults 18-49.