The Golden Globes kudocast rebounded from its NBC low set one year ago, helping the Peacock capture Monday in key ratings categories. Fox held tough with two hours of "24," as the thriller continues to perform at record levels kicking off its fifth season.
According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, the "63rd Annual Golden Globe Awards" averaged a 6.3 rating/15 share in adults 18-49 and 18.7 million viewers overall from 8 to 11 p.m., an 11% improvement in the demo over last year, when the kudocast fell sharply to its lowest scores since moving to NBC in 1996. Show shifted to Monday to avoid the "Desperate Housewives" powerhouse on ABC as well as any conflicts with the NFL playoffs.
At Fox, the second night of its four-hour season premiere of "24" performed very well, scoring a 5.6/13 in adults 18-49 and 14 million viewers overall from 8 to 9, and then a 6.3/14 in the demo and 15.7 million viewers in its regular 9 o'clock slot. "24" won its time period in key male demos, and its two-hour 18-49 average on Monday (5.9/13) repped a big 18% gain over last year's 5.0/12.
CBS placed third with an all-repeat lineup, led as usual by "CSI: Miami" (4.7/11 in 18-49, 14.3 million viewers overall) and "Two and a Half Men" (4.7/10, 13.4 million viewers overall).
And ABC improved at 10 with "The Bachelor" (3.6/9 in 18-49, 7.8 million viewers overall), which performed better with a repeat of the previous week's episode as its lead-in. Kicking off the night, "Wife Swap" placed third (3.9/9 in 18-49, 9.3 million viewers overall), behind the Globes and "24."
Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: NBC, 6.3/15; Fox, 5.9/13; CBS, 4.0/9; ABC, 3.5/8; UPN, 1.2/3; WB, 0.7/2.
In total viewers: NBC, 18.7 million; Fox, 14.9 million; CBS, 11.7 million; ABC, 7.8 million; UPN, 2.9 million; WB, 2.1 million.
Contact Rick Kissell at
rick.kissell@variety.com