By David Bauder, Media Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --The pandemic-era Golden Globes sunk to 6.9 million viewers, down a whopping 64% from 2020 and only barely beating the year when a writer's strike forced NBC to show a news conference announcing the winners.
Last year's show, in the pre-lockdown era, reached 18.4 million viewers, the Nielsen company said.
Big winners in Sunday's ceremony were the films "Nomadland" and "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" and the television programs "The Crown" and "The Queen's Gambit."
The writer's strike curtailed the Globes in 2008 and only 6 million people watched the news conference. Otherwise, this year's show had by far the smallest audience since NBC began telecasting the awards in 1996.
NBC anticipated a ratings bloodbath, the only question was how much. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler co-hosted, but on separate coasts: Poehler in the show's traditional home of the Beverly Hilton and Fey in New York's Rainbow Room.
For a country sick of Zoom meetings, most of the nominees appeared remotely and there was no red carpet. Some stars dressed for the occasion, others didn't bother. "Ted Lasso" star Jason Sudeikis wore a sweatshirt for his acceptance speech.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which runs the Golden Globes, was reeling from an investigation by The Los Angeles Times that revealed ethical lapses and the news that the organization had no Black members who voted on winners.
Nominated films also suffered from a severe lack of buzz, in large part because theaters were largely closed. Since film buffs had to navigate a soup of streaming services to keep up with what was going on, there was no runaway success to entice viewers.
The shuddering sound you hear at the ratings news is coming from ABC and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which puts on the Oscars. The Academy Awards in 2020 reached a record low 23.6 million viewers, and that was also pre-lockdown.
The Oscars will be held on April 25, giving organizers hope that with more people vaccinated against COVID, it might have more in-person elements.
CBS was the most-watched network in primetime last week, averaging 4.5 million viewers. ABC had 3.9 million, NBC had 3.4 million, Fox had 2.3 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Ion Television had 1.2 million and Telemundo had 1 million.
Fox News Channel topped the cable networks, averaging 2.46 million viewers in primetime. MSNBC had 1.9 million, CNN had 1.28 million, HGTV had 1.11 million and ESPN had 1.07 million.
By far the most-watched cable program last week was Fox News' coverage of former President Donald Trump's speech at CPAC, with 5.74 million viewers.
Other cable news networks had superlatives: MSNBC came in first in all-day ratings for the first time in its history in February, and CNN had its best February ratings ever.
ABC's "World News Tonight" won the evening news ratings race, averaging 9.5 million viewers last week. NBC's "Nightly News" had 7.6 million and the "CBS Evening News" had 5.8 million.
For the week of Feb. 22-28, the top 20 primetime programs, their networks and viewerships:
1. "60 Minutes," CBS, 8.13 million.
2. "Young Sheldon," CBS, 7.87 million.
3. "The Equalizer," CBS, 7.78 million.
4. "Golden Globe Awards," NBC, 6.91 million.
5. "911," Fox, 6.74 million.
6. "American Idol," ABC, 6.61 million.
7. "Celebrity Wheel of Fortune," ABC, 5.933 million.
8. "The Neighborhood," CBS, 5.928 million.
9. "America's Funniest Home Videos, 5.84 million.
10. "NCIS: Los Angeles, 5.83 million.
11. "Bob Hearts Abishola, CBS, 5.56 million.
12. "NCIS," CBS, 5.47 million.
13. "The Bachelor," ABC, 5.45 million.
14. "911: Lone Star," Fox, 5.37 million.
15. "B Positive," CBS, 5.19 million.
16. "Mom," CBS, 5.18 million.
17. "Bull," CBS, 5.112 million.
18. "This is Us," NBC, 5.11 million.
19. "FBI," CBS, 5.04 million.
20. "NCIS: New Orleans," CBS, 5.03 million.
SMPTE elects board officers, regional governors
SMPTEยฎ,the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has revealed the board officers and regional governors who will serve terms beginning in January 2025.
Three new officers--Richard Welsh as SMPTE president, Eric Gsell as SMPTE executive VP, and Polly Hickling as SMPTE Education VP--have been elected for a two-year term from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026. One SMPTE officer, Lisa Hobbs, will be continuing her service as SMPTE secretary and treasurer for another two-year term. Additionally, Raymond Yeung will be stepping into the role of standards VP on Jan. 1, 2025.
โSMPTEโs membership has spoken,โ said SMPTE interim executive director Sally-Ann DโAmato. โThese officers have been tasked with an important responsibility, one each of them is prepared to tackle head-on. These next two years are looking bright for SMPTE!โ
In addition to the officers, 10 regional governors were elected by the Society to serve two-year 2025-2026 terms.
These include the following regional governors, re-elected to continue their service:
Asia-Pacific Region Governor
Tony Ngai, Society of Motion Imaging Ltd.
EMEA - Central & South America Region Governor
Fernando Bittencourt, FB Consultant
United Kingdom Region Governor
Chris Johns, Sky UK.
USA - Central Region Governor
William T. Hayes, Consultant
USA - Eastern Region Governor
Dover Jeanne Mundt, Riedel Communications
USA - Western Region Governor
Jeffrey F. Way, Open Drives
Also elected were four newcomers to the SMPTE Board:
Canada Region Governor
Jonathan Jobin, Grass Valley
USA - Hollywood Region Governor
Allan Schollnick, Voxx... Read More