Gregg Donovan holds a sign in support of the “Time’s Up Globes” movement outside the Beverly Hilton Hotel where the Golden Globe is taking place, February 28, 2021 in Beverly Hills, California.
VALERIE MACON | AFP | Getty Images
Not even Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were able to save Sunday’s Golden Globe from poor ratings.
On Tuesday, Nielsen data revealed that the 78th annual awards organized by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association attracted just 6.9 million viewers, down 63% from the 18.4 million that tuned in to the 2020 broadcast.
The last time the ceremony drew such a warm general audience was in 2008, when the show was turned into a press conference because of a strike by the writers. About 6 million people tuned in to the broadcast. The least watched Globes program was in 1995, with only 3.6 million viewers.
Sunday’s broadcast was hampered by technical hiccups and overshadowed by a scandal, as the HFPA is under heavy fire for its lack of black voters and continuing reports of internal corruption. Fey, Poehler and several award winners used their airtime to criticize the organization, leading to a strange night of pseudo-celebration.
The ceremony got a rating of 1.5 among adults aged 18 to 49, a drastic drop of 68% compared to the previous year’s program, which previously held the record for the lowest ranking ever for that important demographic. .
Ratings are essentially percentages that measure the share of a particular group watching a particular program. Most of the time, the ratings are based on the demographics of adults between 18 and 49 years old. This grouping is used to set ad rates for different entertainment programs, therefore, it is the most commonly reported.
With about 120 million households with TV, a rating of 1.0 is equal to 1% of the total households, or 1.2 million. Thus, with a rating of 1.5, the Golden Globe was watched by about 1.8 million people in this key age group.
NBC, which signed a $ 60 million a year contract with HFPA in 2018 for the exclusive rights to the eight-year broadcast, may be rethinking the value of the ceremony.
Although HFPA used Sunday’s program to issue a statement about its plans to include more black and other minority journalists in its organization in the future, many on social media felt that the excuses were unsuccessful. The organization is dealing with several scandals and its reputation is tarnished in the eyes of the Hollywood elite and the public around the world.
Even so, the ceremony and its awards continue to be coveted by the film and television industries. Nominations and victories, even from an organization like HFPA, are still marketing opportunities for studios and celebrities. Notice how often the words “Golden Globe winner” or “Golden Globe nominee” are used in trailers and other promotional materials.
Disclosure: NBC and CNBC are owned by Comcast’s NBCUniversal unit.