For those wondering what Oscar ratings could be like this year with pandemics, based on the results outside the cliff for Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards, the prediction may be to look out below.
Globes ratings dropped by more than 60% of the 18.3 million viewers who, according to Nielsen data, watched an average audience of 6.9 million last year. While the Globes have a long and uneven TV history – sometimes broadcast in a syndication, on cable and some time after an earlier scandal, not at all – it is the lowest version since NBC acquired the broadcasting rights in the 1990s. has.
NBC noted that the audience did win the Emmy Awards in September, but that is hardly an achievement, as the numbers also scored a record low. All indications are that the appetite for awards – which is already gradually declining – has suffered a severe setback in a year in which many movie theaters were closed and a large part of the distribution of films was forcibly transferred to streaming services.
The big winners in the top film categories – the drama “Nomadland” and the satirical comedy “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” – premiered on Hulu and Amazon respectively.
In addition, the use of a virtual format – with bicoastal hosts in Tina Fey and Amy Poehler – robbed the Globes of its usual freewheeling atmosphere, leading to a broadcast filled with technical glitches and awkward moments.
Low ratings are just one of the issues facing NBC and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organization that awards the annual awards. Reports in the Los Angeles Times revealed new ethical questions about the group as well as the absence of black members, a fact that drew criticism from key Hollywood figures, who asked HFPA representatives to address the latter issue during the broadcast.
NBC has so far not commented on the latest reports about the HFPA, which derives most of its revenue from broadcasting license fees and donates much of it to charities.
Like the Globes, the Academy Awards have been delayed by about two months this year, with nominations appearing on March 15 and the ceremony taking place on April 25.
