The 60th annual "Golden Globes" fell to a seven-year ratings low Sunday opposite the second biggest NFL game of the season, according to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, but it still gave NBC its strongest performance on the night since last year's kudocast.
The show averaged a 7.7/17 in adults 18-49, a 19% drop from last year's 9.5/22, while its overall audience of roughly 20 million is down 15%. Despite the stiff competish, the only higher-rated awards shows of the past year are the Oscars (16.1/39 in adults 18-49), the Grammys (9.0/23) and the Emmys (8.1/20).
Reliable nationals weren't available for the live football game on CBS (an NFL championship semifinal between the Tennessee Titans and Oakland Raiders), but it figures to have averaged more than 38 million viewers and a 16-plus rating among adults 18-49.
Fox was a distant third with repeats of "The Simpsons" and the theatrical "There's Something About Mary" (2.7/6 in adults 18-49), while ABC didn't do much with its remake of the movie "Sounder" (1.9/5 in adults 18-49, 7.1 million viewers overall).
Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: CBS, 13.1/30; NBC, 6.5/15; Fox, 2.8/6; ABC, 1.9/6.
In total viewers: CBS, 32.4 million; NBC, 17.3 million; Fox, 6.4 million; ABC, 6.1 million.
Contact Rick Kissell at
rick.kissell@variety.com