Golden Globes Ratings Get Small Boost on Peacock; Will Awards Move Exclusively to Streaming?
The results are in and the Golden Globes won’t be taking home any “most-watched awards ceremony” trophies any time soon. According to an exclusive report from Deadline, 2023 saw the smallest audience ever for a Golden Globes ceremony, with just 6.3 million people tuning in to watch on NBC.
However, the report also demonstrates how much benefit NBCUniversal saw from live-streaming the Golden Globes on Peacock in addition to offering a linear broadcast. On the day of the event, Tuesday, Jan. 10, and the day after, the awards ceremony saw 793,000 video starts on Peacock, which the streamer defines as any time a viewing session of the event begins, either live or on-demand. Overall, the Golden Globe awards were streamed for a total of 33 million minutes on Peacock.
According to Peacock, the 793,000 video starts represented a 245% increase over 2021’s ceremony. It is important to note, however, that in 2021 the show was not live-streamed, and was only made available on-demand after the conclusion of the live ceremony. It should also be noted that the video start metric does not count unique viewers, because a single person can stop and start the video multiple times.
The numbers indicate that while Peacock’s live-stream helped bring more eyes to the Golden Globes, its impact was not immense. The ceremony was not broadcast or streamed in 2022, as part of a campaign to convince the awards’ governing body the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to diversify its membership.
Related: How to Stream All of the 2023 Golden Globe Winning Movies, TV Shows
The year off was not an enormous blow to the Golden Globes in terms of ratings, as the 2021 ceremony was the previous all-time low with 6.9 million viewers. But the Golden Globes do not have a deal in place with any media outlet for its broadcast rights after the 2023 ceremony, and it’s entirely possible that it ends up as a streaming exclusive on Peacock, if it finds a broadcast home at all.
Awards shows are beginning to gravitate to streaming services as a way to stay relevant as linear viewership continues to decline. The ratings for every major awards ceremony have declined precipitously over the past five years, according to Axios. If the Golden Globes do become a streaming exclusive starting in 2024, it could help pave the way for other major awards ceremonies to make similar moves.
Netflix recently struck a deal with the Screen Actors Guild to become the home of the SAG Awards beginning in 2024. Disney+ live-streamed the 2022 Oscar nominations announcement, and plans to do the same in 2023.
The Golden Globes have dealt with a lot of issues in the past few years — many of them self-inflicted. But while the bad press that the HFPA received for its monolithic membership and unethical practices certainly had an impact on the ceremony’s standing in the community, its inability to attract viewers will likely be what leads to the next phase in the awards’ broadcast history.
Peacock
Peacock is a subscription video streaming service from NBCUniversal that includes original shows, blockbuster movies, and classic television series. Peacock is home to “Yellowstone,” and “The Office,” as well as original hits like “Poker Face” and “Bel-Air.” You can also watch live sports including NFL, MLB, WWE, Olympics, Premier League, NASCAR, French Open, College Football and Basketball, and PGA Tour. Premium Plus subscribers can stream their local NBC feed in all 210 markets.