The Golden Globes received dismal initial ratings this year, despite a pledge to keep politics out of it.
The 78th annual awards ceremony, which was broadcast on NBC on Sunday and hosted by Saturday Night Live alums Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, raked in an average of around 5 million viewers and a 1.2 rating in the 18-49 age block, according to Nielsen TV ratings reported by multiple news outlets on Monday. The 1.2 figure, which, like the others, is not final, is on track for record low viewership among the key demographic once final figures are recorded.
In 2020, the same preliminary results showed an average of approximately 14.8 million viewers and a 3.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic. Sunday’s numbers represent a decrease of more than 60% in both figures, but they could rise. The final ratings last year showed an average of around 18.3 million viewers and a 4.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic in final “Live + Same Day” data.
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“As with almost everything in Hollywood and the wider world, the pandemic has played havoc with the calendar and the format,” wrote television critic Dominic Patten for Deadline. “Absent much of the atmosphere that gives the Globes its appeal, last night’s glitchy and semi-virtual ceremony also aired nearly two months later than the 2020 show.”
Prior to the event Sunday, which took place in Beverly Hills, California, Fey promised she and Poehler would steer clear of politics.
“We just want to make it a fun hang out for people at home — kind of a stress reliever, so I don’t think you can expect much politics at all,” she said on the Rappaport to the Rescue podcast, according to Page Six, adding, “It doesn’t seem like a venue for political jokes.”
Still, politics did seep its way into the show, including Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen taking aim at former President Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and the “all-white Hollywood Foreign Press.”
Other awards shows have suffered low ratings during the pandemic. Only 6.1 million viewers tuned in to watch the Emmy Awards last September, breaking the previous record for lowest viewership by 14%.
“Well, I hosted the virtual Emmys last night. They’re saying it was the highest-rated Emmys ever,” host Jimmy Kimmel joked the day after. “Oh, the lowest? Oh, all right. Well, we set a record, let’s just say that.”
Dismal ratings for large events has also extended beyond the entertainment industry, with the Super Bowl receiving only 96.4 million viewers, a 5.5% decrease from 2020.
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Sunday’s big Golden Globes winners included the movie Nomadland, which received the award for Best Picture in the drama category, and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, which received the award for Best Picture in the comedy or musical category. The late Chadwick Boseman received the award for best performance by an actor in a motion picture in the drama category for his role in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and Rosamund Pike received the award for best performance by an actress in a motion picture in the musical or comedy category for her role in I Care a Lot.
Representatives for Fey and Nielsen TV Ratings did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
