The remotely staged ceremony on Sunday drops by more than half compared to 2020.
Golden Globe ratings dropped sharply on Sunday, with the opening numbers for the ceremony well below last year’s screening.
Rapid national assessments – which are not entirely time-adjusted and are not entirely accurate – show NBC broadcast with an average of just 5.42 million viewers and a rating of 1.2 in the main adult demographic group of 18 to 49 years. Both are more than 60% below last year’s preliminary figures (14.76 million and 3.8).
The 2020 Golden Globe, which aired in early January and had an NFL playoff as an advantage, averaged 18.33 million viewers and 4.7 in the 18-49 demographic group in the finals.
Sunday morning numbers do not include the live show in the Pacific time zone or any out-of-home viewing. These numbers will be included in the final count for the same day, released Tuesday morning, and are likely to increase the numbers slightly, but far enough to approach the last few years.
The last time that the Golden Globe had such a small audience was in 2008, when the writers’ strike forced the cancellation of the star-studded ceremony. A televised press conference announcing the winners attracted just over 6 million viewers.
Other than that, the smallest audience before the award since NBC acquired the rights to the program was 14.86 million in 2009. It was not even the most watched program on Sunday: CBS ‘ 60 minutes (7.92 million viewers) and The equalizer (7.58 million) and ABC american idol (6.47 million) are all ahead of the Globes.
The sharp falls at the Golden Globes are in line with a recent trend among the awards. In the last six months, the CMA, Academy of Country Music Awards and American Music Awards fell by at least 30 percent in total viewers, while the Primetime Emmy Awards in September fell 9 percent in viewers and 23 percent in 18-49 demographic.
Final ratings for Globes and other Sunday programs will be available on Tuesday morning; this story will then be updated.
The Golden Globe Awards broadcast is produced by Dick Clark Productions, a division of MRC, which is co-owner of The Hollywood Reporter through a joint venture with Penske Media entitled P-MRC.
Check THR.com/Ratings for more news and rating numbers.