Ratings Increase for Golden Globes

LOS ANGELES: The 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards on NBC on Sunday night, hosted by Ricky Gervais, brought in 16.9 million viewers, a 14-percent gain on last year’s show, according to figures from Nielsen.

While viewership was up this year, the ratings were still well below the 2004 high of 26.8 million viewers. Nielsen figures also show a 10-percent viewing boost in the 18-to-49 set. Reports indicate that the Globes brought NBC its highest ratings in the 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. time period, excluding sports coverage, in six years.

AMC’s Mad Men picked up the Globe for best TV drama at the event, while Glee was awarded in the comedy category. On the feature-film front, Avatar was a big winner, taking the best picture award as well as scoring the best director nod for James Cameron.