(Los Angeles) – Nearly 21 million people watched the 71st annual Golden Globes on US television, its best audience for a decade, according to ratings. The three-hour telecast from Beverly Hills drew 20.9 million viewers, a six percent increase from the 19.7 million who watched last year’s show.
The number is the biggest audience for the Golden Globes since 2004, when “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” the third part of Peter Jackson’s epic trilogy helped draw 26.8 million TV viewers to the show. Industry watchers said it also reflected the popularity of TV comedy actresses Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, who co-hosted the Globes for the second time, and will do so again next year. Before Fey and Poehler, the Globes was presented for three years in a row by edgy British comic Ricky Gervais, who was notorious for his close-to-the-bone jibes at celebrity members of the audience.
