NBC's telecast for the 80th Golden Globes on Tuesday averaged a near-record low of 6.25 million viewers, the second-smallest audience for the annual ceremony, and only slightly better than the viewership garnered by the Globes press conference held during the 2008 writers' strike.
After a diversity and ethics scandal caused NBC to take the Globes off the air last year, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's attempted comeback didn't gain back viewers and instead may have lost them. The 2021 edition, held bicoastally during the pandemic, was watched by 6.9 million. By comparison, the pre-pandemic 2020 Globes drew an audience of 18.4 million.
