The Globes was one of just two awards shows that grew in ratings last year
Last year’s Golden Globes, co-hosted by Andy Samberg and Sandra Oh, were no hostless Oscars, but along with the 91st Academy Awards, they were the only of the major awards shows to post gains year-over-year in the key adults 18-49 demographic. You’re up (again) on Sunday, Ricky Gervais — beat that.
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The Globes grew 6% in ratings last year, less than half of the percentage bump (+13%) the Oscars earned. Everything else, which amounts to seven other major awards shows, was in the red.
That’s the bad color.
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So how did the Globes buck the trend? Well, having an NFL Playoff game as your direct lead-in is not only a good start, it’s literally the best start you can get. The 2019 version of the special aired after NBC’s NFC Wild Card game, when the defending Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles visited the Chicago Bears. The game kicked off at 4:40 p.m. ET, the Globes started at 8/7c.
There’s no better way to stop the bleeding (there’s that red color again), which is the current trend of TV ratings. The prior year, the Golden Globe Awards audience had dropped 11%.
Really, last year’s Globes should have performed even better. It was not a good show, and that’s actually good news for Gervais on Sunday.
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This weekend, NBC is repeating its scheduling move and will air the Globes following its late-afternoon Seattle Seahawks at Philadelphia Eagles NFL Playoff game. Last year, the Eagles squeaked by their opponent 16-15: best of luck this time around, when Russell Wilson and the rest of the other birds visit. 2019 and 2020 are the only two years in Nielsen’s people meter history that the Golden Globes directly followed the NFL Playoffs. What took you so long, NBC?
But will the 77th Golden Globes match the upward trajectory of last year’s version? With Gervais and his must-see brand of hosting on full display, it should — though he might skew older and influence total viewers more than the main demo.
The nominees themselves aren’t going to do the first awards show of the new decade any favors. Like last year, TV once again doesn’t have “Game of Thrones” in the running, with its only nomination being a Best Actor nod for Kit Harington, and the films are a downgrade, consumer-wise. 2019 boasted “Black Panther,” “A Star Is Born” and “Bohemian Rhapsody,” to name a few box office hits. This year has more modest big-screen nominees like “Joker” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”
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Below are the key demo ratings and total-viewer tallies for each of 2019’s major awards shows. We’ve included their respective percentage changes from the prior year, and ranked the trophy-handout specials in terms of their demo retention.
Oscars: 7.7 rating (+13%), 29.641 million viewers (+11%)
Golden Globes: 5.3 rating (+6%), 18.648 million viewers (-2%)
Grammys: 5.6 rating (-5%), 19.880 million viewers (+0.4%)
Country Music Awards: 2.0 rating (-5%), 11.270 million viewers (+12%)
American Music Awards: 1.7 rating (-6%), 6.682 million viewers (+1%)
Billboard Music Awards: 2.1 rating (-12%), 8.007 million viewers (+2%)
Tony Awards: 0.8 rating (-20%), 5.404 million viewers (-14%)
ACM Awards: 1.6 rating (-24%), 9.922 million viewers (-18%)
Emmys: 1.7 rating (-29%), 6.978 million viewers (-32%)
The Oscars benefitted from intrigue over being forced into a hostless format following an Academy standoff with Kevin Hart over old tweets. And again, it also had those much stronger films.
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Some scheduling particulars worth noting about that crop: The Oscars shifted one week earlier last year, while the Grammys aired two weeks later than its 2018 show.
The BBMAs scheduled themselves on a Monday earlier in May. In 2018, the Billboard awards aired on a Sunday night in mid-late May.
The Emmys shifted from a Monday to a Sunday this year to accommodate Fox’s hit fall shows, but they ran into a buzzsaw in NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.” Didn’t work.
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Additionally, the AMAs moved later in the fall, from a random Tuesday in October to the Sunday before Thanksgiving. The ACM Awards moved one week up this year.
The others all aired on the same day year to year.
The 77th Golden Globes air Sunday at 8/7c on NBC.
10 Highest-Rated TV Specials of 2019: From Hostless Oscars to 'Little Mermaid Live' (Photos)
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With increased competition and a general downward trend in live viewing, television specials tend to feel, well, less special with each passing year. There are still quite a few annual must-see live-TV hours -- and no, we're not even talking about sports (for this one).
From the Oscars to the Emmys and everything toward the top, TheWrap ranked the 10 highest-rated broadcast-television entertainment specials of 2019. All numbers in this story come from Nielsen's Live + Same Day data set and measures adults 18-49, the demographic most sought after by advertisers on entertainment programming.
Thanks to ABC's "The Little Mermaid Live," we've got a musical on the list again this year. We declined to include the Oscars red carpet half-hours this time around, as they would bump a few standalone specials from the Top 10.
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Getty
Rank: 10
Special: American Music Awards
Date: Nov. 24, 2019
Net: ABC
18-49 rating: 1.72Also Read: Ratings: AMAs Fall to Another Record Low in Demo Despite Even More Taylor Swift Than Last Year
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ABC
Rank: 9
Special: "Live in Front of a Studio Audience: All in the Family/The Jeffersons"
Date: May 22, 2019
Net: ABC
18-49 rating: 1.74Also Read: Viola Davis, Tiffany Haddish and More Join ABC’s ‘Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Good Times’
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CBS
Rank: 8
Special: Thanksgiving Day Parade (CBS)
Date: Nov. 28, 2019
Net: CBS
18-49 rating: 1.78Also Read: 16 Best Thanksgiving TV Episodes and Specials Ever (Photos)
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Photo by Terry Wyatt/Getty Images
Rank: 7
Special: Country Music Awards
Date: Nov. 13, 2019
Net: ABC
18-49 rating: 1.96Also Read: Ratings: CMAs Slip to Another Record Low in Key Demo, But Rise in Total Viewers
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Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for dcp
Rank: 6
Special: Billboard Music Awards
Date: May 1, 2019
Net: NBC
18-49 rating: 2.08Also Read: How Kelly Clarkson’s Talk Show ‘Kellyoked’ Its Way to the Hottest Syndicated Launch Since 2012
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ABC/Mitch Haaseth
Rank: 5
Special: "Little Mermaid Live!"
Date: Nov. 5, 2019
Net: ABC
18-49 rating: 2.60Also Read: Live TV Musicals Ranked by Ratings, From ‘Little Mermaid’ to ‘Rent’ (Photos)
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Getty
Rank: 4
Special: Golden Globes
Date: Jan. 6, 2019
Net: NBC
18-49 rating: 5.27Also Read: 19 Golden Globes Nominations Snubs and Surprises, From ‘When They See Us’ to Cate Blanchett (Photos)
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Peter Kramer/NBC
Rank: 3
Special: Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Date: Nov. 28, 2019
Net: NBC
18-49 rating: 5.49Also Read: Tito Ortiz and Alberto Del Rio on Going From Real Punches to Pro-Wrestling Punches – and Back
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Getty
Rank: 2
Special: Grammys
Date: Feb. 10, 2019
Net: CBS
18-49 rating: 5.61Also Read: 26 Stars Who Only Need a Grammy to EGOT, From Liza Minnelli to Al Pacino (Photos)
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Getty
Rank: 1
Special: Oscars
Date: Feb. 24, 2019
Net: ABC
18-49 rating: 7.70Also Read: Why the Oscars Could Be Walking Into a Diversity Minefield This Season
The Emmys missed the cut this year, but the rest of these did not
With increased competition and a general downward trend in live viewing, television specials tend to feel, well, less special with each passing year. There are still quite a few annual must-see live-TV hours -- and no, we're not even talking about sports (for this one).
From the Oscars to the Emmys and everything toward the top, TheWrap ranked the 10 highest-rated broadcast-television entertainment specials of 2019. All numbers in this story come from Nielsen's Live + Same Day data set and measures adults 18-49, the demographic most sought after by advertisers on entertainment programming.
Thanks to ABC's "The Little Mermaid Live," we've got a musical on the list again this year. We declined to include the Oscars red carpet half-hours this time around, as they would bump a few standalone specials from the Top 10.
Tony Maglio
TV Editor • tony.maglio@thewrap.com • Twitter: @tonymaglio