Is It Art? NFL Outscores the Golden Globes
by EG
In her much-talked-about Golden Globes speech on Sunday night, Meryl Streep lamented that a Hollywood without "foreigners" would offer only "football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts." While it may be true that football isn't art, Sunday's TV ratings make clear that many more Americans want to watch football than want to watch Hollywood awards shows.
Ratings for Sunday's Golden Globes telecast were up slightly compared to last year's show, drawing just over 20 million total viewers. Among the 18-49 age demographic, the show earned a 5.6 rating.
The Globes' ratings were pretty good, but they pale in comparison to those of the day's NFL On FOX game. The playoff game between the New York Giants and the Green Bay Packers ran over into prime time, and the hour between 7 and 8pm, just prior to the Globes telecast, drew a whopping 34.3 million viewers. More importantly, the game earned a 10.8 rating in the 18-49 group, nearly double that of the Globes.
From the looks of it, if the TV schedule does end up being dominated by football and MMA, there's a sizable audience that wouldn't have a problem with it.