Golden Globes 2021 audience drops by more than half

Early reports suggest that viewing figures for Sunday's show were down by more than 60 per cent on last year

Powered by automated translation

It may have marked an exciting moment for Hollywood as the first in-person awards ceremony to take place since the start of the pandemic, but audiences at home were less enthused by this year's Golden Globes.

Ratings for the awards ceremony, which took place on Sunday night in a bi-coastal format for the first time, were down 50 per cent on the 2020 ceremony, according to audience data analyst Nielsen.

Early numbers show that NBC's live broadcast of the event averaged 5.42 million viewers and a 1.2 rating in key ad demographics of adults between the ages of 18 and 49. Those numbers are down by more than 60 per cent in 2020, the Hollywood Reporter states.

However, the early figures do not account for those watching from the Pacific time zone or watching outside of their homes. Those figures are set to be released on Tuesday.

This data does suggest, though, that it was the Golden Globes's smallest audience since it moved from television channel TBS to NBC in 1996.

The 78th Golden Globe Awards was the first hybrid show for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which had in-person ceremonies running simultaneously in New York and Los Angeles, and many of its stars dialling in from home.

In 2020, the ceremony was watched by 18.4 million viewers.