Golden Globes draw 8.7M viewers, a nearly 7% dip from 2025

By JAKE COYLE
Associated Press

Associated Press

Published: 

Tags: Todd Boehly, David Zaslav, Nikki Glaser

83rd Golden Globes - Show This image released by CBS Broadcasting shows Sara Murphy, foreground left, appearing with writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson, foreground right, and other cast members, as well as presenter Julia Roberts, right, as they accept the award for best motion picture - musical or comedy for "One Battle After Another" during the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Kevork Djansezian/CBS Broadcasting via AP) (©2026 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.) (Kevork Djansezian/AP)

An audience of 8.7 million viewers watched the Golden Globes on Sunday, according to Nielsen, a decline of almost 7% from the year prior.

Sunday's telecast on CBS, hosted by Nikki Glaser, didn't quite reach the viewership levels of the two previous Globes on CBS. In the network's first year with the award show, the broadcast was watched by 9.4 million. Last year, 9.3 million tuned in to the show, also hosted by Glaser.

CBS and the Golden Globes in 2024 signed a five-year deal to broadcast the annual ceremony following years on NBC. After a diversity and ethics scandal led NBC to drop the Globes, the show was sold to the Penske Media-owned Dick Clark Productions and Todd Boehly's Eldridge Industries. Back in the late 2010s, the Globes typically drew close to 20 million viewers.

On Sunday night, when “One Battle After Another” and “Hamnet” took top honors, many more were watching football. NBC's telecast of the Chargers-Patriots playoff game averaged 28.9 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

CBS touted social engagement for the Globes, calling it the “most social ever,” with 42 million interactions (up 5% from the year before), according to Social Content Ratings. More than 14 million watched Glaser's monologue across Globes social platforms in the first 36 hours.

Paramount Skydance, CBS' parent company, on Monday filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. Discovery and chief executive David Zaslav as part of its hostile takeover bid for the studio. Last week, Warner Bros. Discovery's board determined Paramount’s offer is not in the best interests of the company or its shareholders, and it again recommended shareholders support the Netflix deal.

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For more coverage of the 2026 Golden Globe Awards, visit https://apnews.com/hub/golden-globe-awards.

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