Golden Globes TV Ratings Crash, Prove People Hate Awards Shows

If you skipped the Golden Globes on Tuesday night, so did just about everyone else in America.

This year, the show brought in 6.2 million viewers, the lowest total since 2008.

What was the show like that year? It was during the writers' strike and was basically just a press conference where they read off the winners.

Yeah, this year's shindig barely beat a press conference... by about 200,000 sets of eyeballs.

The 2023 Golden Globes were the latest in a rapid decline in award show ratings. In fact, the Globes have seen a 66% drop in viewership since 2020. It was also a 10% decline from just last year.

Comedians Tracy Morgan and Eddie Murphy celebrate Murphy's Golden Globe win, which not many people watched on television. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

The Golden Globes Were More Proof That People Don't Care About Award Shows

It's becoming increasingly clear that the overwhelming majority of viewers can't be bothered to tune in to watch celebrities pat each other on the back (or in Will Smith's case, slap in the face) for several hours. Add to that the inevitable acceptance speeches that morph into left-wing political screeds, and what value is this expected to give the viewer?

While that's no doubt part of the problem, another has to be changed in viewing habits. There's a lot of fat on those award shows (unless Ricky Gervais hosts, in which case it's all must-see TV). So, why would you want to sit around for 3-4 hours when the best clips will appear on your Twitter timeline?

There's no need to sit through the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series just to see the one or two moments that are worth talking about.

This year, the two talking points were Austin Butler's Elvis voice and Eddie Murphy's Will Smith joke. Those were the only parts worth seeing and you can spend four minutes watching those clips, or you could waste four hours watching drunk celebrities try to read a teleprompter.

...Actually, if you put it that way... no, the four-minute option is the better one.

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