Ricky Gervais returned to host the Golden Globes for a fifth time last night, but the awards show appears to have slipped in the TV ratings versus previous years.
Last night’s awards ceremony drew 14.76 million viewers and a 3.8 rating among adults 19-49 according to early Nielsen estimates. That’s down roughly 6% in total viewership and 16% in rating from last year’s early numbers. Those numbers will likely adjust upwards as more accurate ratings are delivered later today, but at this stage the Globes are on track for an eight-year viewership low.
For comparison, last year the awards show ended up scoring a 5.2 rating in adults 18-49 and 18.6 million viewers, up a few percentage points from the 2018 telecast which drew a 5.0 rating and 19 million viewers.
Sunday’s ceremony saw World War I pic “1917” and Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” win big in the film categories, while “Succession” and “Fleabag” took home the biggest prizes on the TV front.
Prior to the Globes, the NFL playoff game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Seattle Seahawks ended 21 minutes before the Globes coverage began, compared to the meager six minutes between the NFL and the Globes last year.
ABC placed second on the night, far behind NBC, with a 0.6 average rating. “America’s Funniest Home Videos” led the way with a 0.7, followed by “Shark Tank” with a 0.6. Tiffany Haddish could be found DJ’ing next to Snoop Dogg at the Amazon Studios Globes after party last night, while an episode of her “Kids Say the Darndest Things” came in at a 0.5 and 3 million total viewers.
Over on CBS, “60 Minutes” lacked its usual NFL overrun lead-in, and so came in at a 0.6 rating and 7.7 million total viewers. “God Friended Me” dipped to a series low 0.4 rating and 5.4 million total viewers, down 54% from its last episode. “NCIS: Los Angeles” scored a 0.5.
On Fox, the animation domination continued with “The Simpsons” posting a 0.6 in the 8 p.m. slot, followed by a “Family Guy” episode with a 0.7. Reruns of “Last Man Standing,” “Bob’s Burgers” and “Bless the Harts” came in at a 0.4, a 0.5 and a 0.3 respectively.
Finally on the CW, replays of “Batwoman” and “Supergirl” both scored a 0.1.