Golden Globes Rake In Highest Ratings Since 2020 (But That’s Still The 3rd Lowest Of All-Time)

The Golden Globes made a rather triumphant return on Sunday night (Jan. 7), raking in 9.4 million live + same-day viewers, according to a new report from Deadline.

Early Nielsen data shows that ratings for this year’s three-hour ceremony were up 50% from 2023’s show, which aired on NBC and brought in its lowest audience to date. That number, which is still the third-lowest in history, is expected to increase as ratings get finalized.

The renewed interest in this year’s Golden Globes, which aired on CBS, could likely be attributed to the fact that the ceremony was back to airing on Sunday after taking place on a Tuesday last year, per Deadline. Plus, it came on after a highly anticipated football doubleheader that determined which NFL teams would be going to the playoffs.

The Globes are slowly inching their way back to the top. After becoming riddled with controversy, the 2021 event only attracted 6.9 million viewers — a stark contrast from the 18.3 million people who tuned in the year before.

In 2022, the Golden Globes did not air a live telecast. The decision came after the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) — the now-defunct organization behind the event — was hit with accusations of racism, corruption and sexual assault.

This year, shows like Succession, The Bear and Beef won a majority of the TV awards, while Christopher Nolan‘s biographical thriller Oppenheimer won big in the film-based categories.

While audiences were generally happy with the outcome of the award winners, many were not as thrilled with host Jo Koy‘s jokes, which poked fun at Barbie being based on a “plastic doll with big boobies” and the NFL’s coverage of Taylor Swift when she’s attending Travis Kelce‘s football games.

In response to the backlash, Koy — who was tapped for the hosting gig less than two weeks before the event — admitted the next day that he was “hurt.”

“It’s a tough room. It was a hard job, I’m not going to lie,” Koy told GMA3 on Monday (Jan. 8), per Variety. “I’d be lying if [I said] it doesn’t hurt. I hit a moment there where I was like, ‘Ah.’ Hosting is just a tough gig.”

He added, “Yes, I’m a stand-up comic, but that hosting position, it’s a different style. I kind of went in and did the writer’s thing. We had 10 days to write this monologue. It was a crash course. I feel bad, but I got to still say I loved what I did.”

You can now stream the 2024 Golden Globes on Paramount+.