Golden Globes Come In From The Cold With Five-Year CBS Deal

It appears Hollywood’s freeze-out of the Golden Globes is officially over with a five-year deal from CBS to carry the scandal-tainted show after three years of boycotts, reorganization, and revamp.

“CBS’ collaboration with the Globes for this year’s broadcast was a big win for both of us and established strong momentum for awards shows in 2024,” said CBS CEO and President George Cheeks in a release. “The Globes is a one-of a-kind live event that adds another marquee special and valuable promotional platform to CBS’ annual calendar. I’m excited to expand the partnership with Jay (Penske) and the entire team to continue to drive the Globes forward.”

The deal represents a bet by CBS that the Globes can continue to be some kind of magnet for its fading and aging broadcast network as viewers increasingly turn to streaming services. The telecast was also carried live on CBS’ sibling streaming service, Paramount+.

Awards shows have been, if not reliable, one of broadcast and cable networks few remaining audience aggregators outside the NFL and college football.

This year’s Oscars, held earlier this month, attracted an estimated 19.5 million viewers, up 4 percent from 2023 but still well below pre-pandemic levels. The Globes themselves were long carried by NBC, but went off the air for a year after an industry boycott in response to an investigation of ethical conflicts and other problems with the original non-profit running the awards, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

A reorganization killed off the old HFPA, replaced it with a larger and more diverse group of about 300 entertainment journalists, and turned the Globes into a for-profit company owned by Eldridge Industries and long-time show runner Dick Clark Productions. Dick Clark Productions in turn is controlled by Penske Media Group, whose other holdings include such entertainment publications as Variety, the Hollywood Reporter, Indiewire, Billboard, Deadline and Rolling Stone (I formerly worked for Variety and Deadline).

The shift appeared to mollify critics and audiences, with ratings for this year’s CBS telecast up more than 50 percent from 2023, to an estimated nearly 10 million viewers. CBS had agreed to carry the telecast on a one-year deal as the Globes have struggled to regain relevance amid Hollywood’s annual high-dollar Oscar awards season.

“We’re so proud to continue to call CBS our home for the Golden Globes,” said Jay Penske, who is chairman and CEO of Penske Media and Dick Clark Productions. “CBS stepped up for the Globes during a very challenging time, and inherently understood its value, while having the foresight, imagination and conviction to bring this iconic show to its many platforms. We’ve long admired CBS’ commitment to some of the greatest cultural live events and partnering for the long term further cements this show’s legacy and incredible place in history.”

Other awards shows have seen their viewership recovering in recent months but generally remain well below pre-pandemic levels. This year’s Grammy viewership was up 34 percent, to an average of 16.9 million, on CBS and its sibling streaming service Paramount+. Those figures also remain below pre-2020 viewership, however.

ABC’s carriage in November of the CMA Awards were slightly down, at 6.8 million viewers. The Critics Choice Awards, which have attempted to usurp the Globes’ role as a journalist-voted show, mustered just 1 million viewers, though that was up 14 percent from 2023.

The deal also represents something of a gamble on the Globes’ part, in that CBS parent Paramount Global is widely expected to be sold in whole or in part in coming months, as controlling shareholder Shari Redstone tries to salvage the family fortune her father Sumner built out of a grab bag of once-dominant media divisions that now are saddled with aging business models and about $15 billion in debt.

As well, Paramount+, the company’s streaming service, continues to hemorrhage losses, nearly $500 million last quarter.

Private-equity giant Apollo last week offered $11 billion for Paramount Global’s broadcast stations, CBS network, and the storied Paramount studio lot in the heart of Hollywood in Los Angeles, according to the Wall Street Journal. Also involved in the pitch is Burbank-based blockbuster-focused Legendary Entertainment, whose most recent hit is the second Dune film. The Apollo/Legendary proposal is being considered by a special committee of the Paramount board.

Mini-mogul David Ellison also reportedly is kicking the tires on National Amusements Inc., the Redstone family holding company that controls a majority of Paramount’s voting stock, along with several hundred theaters and some other complicating financial pieces and debt.

Redstone is reportedly continuing to negotiate with Ellison, whose father, Oracle chairman Larry Ellison, is one of the world’s richest men. The younger Ellison heads Skydance, which has produced several blockbuster films with Paramount, including the Top Gun sequel and the Mission:Impossible series, all starring Tom Cruise.

Another mini-mogul, Weather Channel owner Byron Allen, also made an offer for the company, but did not detail the sources of his funding. Media companies including Warner Bros. Discovery and Comcast have also had at least preliminary talks with Paramount, but are not currently believed to be in ongoing talks.