Variety defines Golden Globes' 4% ratings decline as a 'climb' thanks to Ricky Gervais

Greg P. | 12:33 PM on January 12, 2016

Sunday’s Golden Globes awards show in Hollywood was a real snoozefest, but not according to this headline from Variety. Ratings for the annual gathering of the rich and pampered “climbed” thanks to host Ricky Gervais:

#GoldenGlobes ratings climb with @RickyGervais' return. https://t.co/8bUbAHuQHw pic.twitter.com/8rSokfaJpd

— Variety (@Variety) January 12, 2016

Except when you click through to the article, you get the truth. Ratings declined 4% over last year’s broadcast:

Golden Globes Draw 18.5 Million Viewers, Down 4% From Last Year

UPDATE: Sunday’s telecast of the Golden Globes on NBC has joined other major awards shows over the past year to post ratings declines, with this year’s telecast — which went up against the closing minutes of NFL playoff coverage on Fox in much of the country — down about 4% in viewership from last year.

According to Nielsen estimates that accurately encompass West Coast viewing, the “73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards” on NBC averaged a 5.5 rating in adults 18-49 and 18.5 million viewers overall. This leaves it down vs. last year by 5% in the demo (from 5.8) and 4% in total viewers (from 19.31 million).

It’s possible the mangled syntax in the tweet was referring to the last time Gervias hosted the show in 2012:

This year’s Golden Globes telecast, hosted by Ricky Gervais, did grow 10% vs. his prior turn hosting in 2012 (5.5 vs. 5.0 in 18-49 and 18.51 million vs. 16.85 million). Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosted from 2013 through 2015.

But this still hides what’s going on. Here are the year-by-year numbers:

#GoldenGlobes 5-year ratings track

2012: 5.0 (Ricky)
2013: 6.4 (Amy+Tina)
2014: 6.5 (Tina+Amy)
2015: 5.8 (Amy+Tina)
2016: 5.5 (Ricky)

— TurkeyMoJoe (@TVMoJoe) January 11, 2016