Golden Globes enjoys ratings bump to top 10 million viewers

Viewership is up 7 percent from last year, according to Paramount

The 2025 Golden Globes was watched by 10.1 million viewers, according to Paramount.

The figure represents a 7 percent increase from last year’s ceremony, which was watched by an average of 9.4 million viewers.

Like last year, the awards show aired on Paramount subsidiary CBS.

Variety reports that this year’s viewing figures were calculated by VideoAmp, rather than Nielsen who calculated the figures for last year. Paramount Global is currently in a contract dispute with Nielsen.

The 2024 ceremony on CBS has enjoyed a huge ratings boost from the previous year, when the show aired on NBC. In 2022, the Golden Globes ceremony was widely boycotted and pulled from television as then-parent organisation the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) became engulfed in a diversity and ethics scandal.

At this year’s ceremony, FX’s Japan-set period drama Shogun came out on top, winning all four awards it was nominated for.

Host Nikki Glaser at the 82nd Annual Golden Globe Awards (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

In the film categories, The Brutalist, which was hailed a “masterpiece” after its festival premiere, took home some of the biggest awards of the evening including Adrien Brody’s victory for Best Actor in a Drama.

Emilia Pérez, too, took home four awards including a surprise win in the Best Motion Picture: Musical or Comedy category.

A highlight of the night saw The Substance star Demi Moore give a rousing speech, where she celebrated receiving the first major award in her 45-year career, and opened up about nearly quitting the industry following loaded criticism from a Hollywood exec.

Stand-up comedian Nikki Glaser also made history as the first woman to host the awards solo. She was widely praised for jokes that were funny without bruising any egos.

“Welcome to the Golden Globes: Ozempic’s biggest night!” she announced. “I’m Nikki Glaser and I’m absolutely thrilled to be your host tonight. I gotta say, this feels like I’ve finally made it. I’m in a room full of producers at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, and this time all of my clothes are on. It was worth it!”

“I’m not here to roast you,” she assured the assembled celebrities, claiming that together they’re so powerful they can do anything “except tell the country who to vote for.”

She has since revealed several jokes that she cut from her monologue for being “too mean”.

After receiving some pushback on social media for a joke about Diddy, Glaser revealed she cut a second reference to Diddy: “This is the last time all of you will be the same room together until the Diddy trial.”

The comedian explained that she felt the joke she kept in about Diddy worked better, and also that it would be risky to accuse “people in the room of being involved in that... they might turn on you.”