Despite Criticism, Golden Globes Reaches Largest Audience in 4 Years on CBS

The revamped Golden Globes was looking to have an award-worthy start on CBS on Sunday, and—against the odds—it might've achieved that. The early numbers are in, and Sunday's 81st Golden Globes averaged 9.4 million viewers on CBS, which is up 50% from last year's show for NBC. That marks the largest audience since 2020, according to Nielsen time zone-adjusted fast national including Out of Home ratings. However, it should be noted that the event didn't air on TV in 2022. According to CBS, the show reached the largest livestreaming audience for an awards show across Paramount+ and other CBS platforms since the 65th Grammys in Feb. 2023 and was the second-largest livestreamed CBS special event on Paramount+ ever for reach, ranking as the No. 1 program on the night for total social interactions. However, not all those interactions were positive. NBC Cancels 2022 Golden Globes Ceremony Amid Growing HFPA Backlash The numbers may surprise some, as the show was plagued by several issues, including a poorly received opening monologue from host Jo Koy, who even said he "fell a little short." In addition, congested seating at the Beverly Hilton had winners traversing a labyrinth of tables to make it to the stage, and the overall awkward production even had Elizabeth Debicki jump in her seat following an audio glitch when her nomination was announced. Still, the ratings are going in a positive direction after consecutive years of decline. The 2023 Golden Globes fell to 6.25 million viewers, the second-lowest viewer total in its 28-year history on NBC. And that was down 10% from 6.91 million in 2021. It's been a precipitous drop for the event, which reached 18.3 million viewers in 2020. Of course, in addition to the industry-wide move from linear to streaming and OTT, the onus for the viewership declines largely fall to a series of controversies and bumps in the road for the event. Not so Golden years In 2022, the Golden Globes had a year off due to widespread controversy over corruption allegations and a lack of diversity among members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organization behind the event. The backlash came following a 2021 LA Times report revealing the organization had zero Black members, leading to celebrities, critics and companies calling to boycott the ceremony. Since then, the HFPA was disbanded and Eldridge Industries purchased the Golden Globe assets with Dick Clark Productions (DCP), looking to make the formerly nonprofit organization of international reporters a hired for-profit venture. The broadcast on CBS was supposed to mark a new beginning for the Golden Globes, and though the widespread criticism online may put a damper on the prospects of future shows, the rise in numbers is a good start. For those who did tune in, Oppenheimer led feature films with five wins including best motion picture drama. Meanwhile, Succession had four wins to dominate the TV categories, including best drama series. However, when it comes to all the criticism surrounding this year's Golden Globes, the best drama may have actually been behind the scenes. Time will tell where the numbers go from here.