SUNDAY’S Emmy Awards were up slightly over last year — good news for a telecast that’s been on a downward spiral.

The awards, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris (“How I Met Your Mother“), averaged 13.3 million viewers on CBS (8-11 p.m.), up 8 percent from last year’s historically low 12.3 million viewers.

That still wasn’t nearly enough to beat the Giants-Cowboys game, which ended in a last-second Big Blue victory and snared an estimated 25 million viewers on NBC (final numbers will be released today).

Sunday’s Emmy’s telecast started strongly at 8 p.m. with 15 million viewers — thanks, in part, to overrun from CBS’ football coverage and “60 Minutes.”

But it shed viewers every half hour, ending with only 10.9 million viewers from 10:30 to 11 p.m., according to Nielsen.