Golden Globes attracts 9.4 million viewers

According to Nielsen, the Golden Globes averaged 9.4 million viewers on Sunday night, up from the 2023 ceremony’s ratings but still significantly lower than the viewership of just a few years ago.

Until 2020, the Globes regularly attracted 17 million to 20 million viewers. In 2019, the Globes closed its viewership gap with the Oscars so significantly that it appeared the telecast could become the most-watched awards show.

And then disaster struck.

First came the pandemic, which robbed the 2021 Globes of its usual booze-soaked free-run ceremony, causing ratings to plummet. Then came a scandal for the organization that runs the Globes, leading to NBC refusing to broadcast the 2022 ceremony. Last year, NBC gave the Globes a one-year chance, and the ratings were still low, with just over six million people watching.

For months there was speculation that a streaming service like Netflix or Amazon could acquire the rights to the Globes. That didn’t happen. In November, CBS picked up the rights for another one-year deal. (In a statement announcing the deal, CBS President George Cheeks said the Globes could help promote scripted programming that had been postponed by last year’s strikes in Hollywood. Those shows will premiere next month. )

CBS announced a host just a few days before Christmas – a relatively unknown Jo Koy.

Reviews for Mr. Koy were harsh, with critics particularly criticizing the comedian’s bizarre pivot midway through the monologue, in which he blamed other writers for some of his lame jokes. “Yo, I got the gig 10 days ago, you want a perfect monologue?” he said. “Yes, shut up. You’re kidding, right? To delay. I wrote a few, and they make you laugh.”

Critics weren’t kind to the broadcast either. Vanity fair called it a “near-total disaster” and a critic at The Hollywood Reporter it said was “the most boring awards ceremony” he had ever seen. The ankle boot compared it to the “RC Cola of award shows.”