Executives at TV Guide Channel and E! Entertainment Television both had reasons to be happy with the ratings emanating from their respective coverage of the 62nd Annual Golden Globe Awards.
TV Guide -- which wrested red-carpet veterans Joan and Melissa Rivers from E! -- racked up a 0.83 household rating from 6 p.m.-8 p.m., according to Nielsen Media Research data.
Joan & Melissa Live at the Golden Globes marked the network’s best-ever rating and a 117% jump from its coverage prior to the 2004 Globes. The show also generated a 0.5 mark among adults 18-49 (up 150%) and a 0.55 against women 18-49 (a 166% jump).
The Riverses’ take on the best of fashion and faux pas the following night did even better, notching a 0.94 household rating from 8 p.m.-9 p.m. Golden Globes Fashion Wrap pulled in 809,000 total viewers, the most in TV Guide’s history.
E!’s Live from the Red Carpet: 2005 Golden Globe Awards, hosted by Star Jones Reynolds and featuring comedienne Kathy Griffin as a special correspondent, pulled a 1.69 household rating and a 0.91 among adults 18-49 to easily top TV Guide’s numbers. E! averaged 1.67 million viewers for its two-hour show.
However, the network’s household rating was down from a 2.05 and a 1.38 mark against the key advertising demo for its 2004 Globes coverage, which featured mother and daughter Rivers.
E! officials looked to the gridiron to put a spin on the numbers. Noting that Sunday night’s Globes preshow faced competition from National Football League playoff action -- CBS was airing the New England Patriots’ divisional-game triumph over the Indianapolis Colts -- they harkened back to the 2003 Globes, which also ran up against NFL postseason action.
Gauged in that frame, E!’s Jan. 16 show scored a 15% gain from the 1.47 household rating recorded two years ago, while its adults 18-49 performance (1.01) was off only 10%.
