Golden Globes pulls second highest audience in decade

Host Jimmy Fallon attends the 74th Annual Golden Globes Preview Day at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 4, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. AFP

LOS ANGELES, United States — Hollywood’s three-hour Golden Globe Awards averaged 20 million viewers on Sunday, the second biggest audience in a decade, NBC said on Monday.

The 74th edition of the annual alcohol-fueled ceremony, hosted this year by Jimmy Fallon, was up 1.5 million viewers from last year, the network said in a statement quoting figures from Nielsen Media Research.

It added that viewership was up two percent among adults 18 to 49 years old.

Last year’s ceremony hosted by Ricky Gervais averaged 18.5 million viewers but, unlike the 2017 edition, faced head-to-head competition from an NFL playoffs game.

This year’s uptick in numbers comes as just about every major awards show, including the Oscars, the Emmys and the Grammys, has experienced a drop in ratings in recent years.

The big winner at Sunday’s ceremony was the modern musical romance “La La Land” which won seven Golden Globe Awards.

The coming-of-age film “Moonlight” won the prize for best drama.

One of the highlights of the show was a speech by actress Meryl Streep, who berated Donald Trump for his divisive rhetoric as she received a lifetime achievement award. CBB