June 16 (Bloomberg) -- Last night's lively Tony Awards telecast attracted 6.2 million viewers, up 5 percent from one year earlier, CBS Corp. reported.

CBS cited preliminary figures gathered by the Nielsen Co. Final ratings will be released tomorrow morning. Last year, 5.7 million viewers tuned in, a record low for the broadcast.

The gain came after the first host in three years, Whoopi Goldberg, bopped with the cast of ``Spring Awakening,'' danced with Mario Lopez in a number from ``A Chorus Line'' and flew over the stage as Mary Poppins. Producers stuffed the three-hour program at Radio City Music Hall with numbers from long-running shows, while relegating technical awards to an off-camera presentation before the primetime broadcast.

The Tonys were up against Game 5 of the National Basketball Association finals. Nevertheless, many on Broadway said it was the most compelling show in years. Patti LuPone from ``Gypsy'' gave an emotional speech after winning her first Tony since 1980 (for the title role in ``Evita'') and 28-year-old Lin-Manuel Miranda of ``In the Heights'' performed a rap after winning his first award, for best score.

``I thought Whoopi did really well,'' said Jed Bernstein, an independent producer and former head of what's now called the Broadway League, which presents the Tonys with the American Theatre Wing. ``And there were some nice thank-you speeches for a change.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Philip Boroff in New York at pboroff@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 16, 2008 15:58 EDT