NBC cans Golden Globes Awards 2022 to push quicker diversity reforms

NBC will not broadcast the Golden Globes Awards show in 2022, due to a string of controversies circulating the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), media reports say. NBC's decision was influenced by the ethics of the HFPA being questioned by Hollywood, around its lack of diversity. Currently the HFPA co-produces the annual Golden Globe Awards.

The Golden Globes official website describes the HFPA as a non-profit organisation and the 90 members in its organisation consists of international journalists based in South California. The members disseminate information about movies and television to the world through their various publications throughout the world. NBC decision comes despite HFPA's move to recruit more Black members and make other changes, said Reuters. Its decision included hiring a chief diversity officer, amplifying recruitment of Black journalists, and opening up the pool of potential applicants for the group of foreign entertainment journalists.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to NBC for comment. 

Prior to NBC's decision, HFPA was also met with a lawsuit in August 2020 by  Norwegian reporter Kjersti Flaa, who sued the organisation for the repeated denial of membership she faced, said a report on Variety . Claiming that the HFPA functioned like a "cartel", Flaa stated its members divvy up the market for foreign entertainment coverage, and reject anyone who poses a competitive threat.

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According to CNBC, the Golden Globes in 2021 captured 6.9 million viewers this year, which was a 63% drop from the 18.4 million who viewed the 2020′s telecast. The data attributed to Nielsen, was said to be its lowest rating ever in the key demographic of ages 18-49.

Aside from the Golden Globes, The Academy Awards, known as the Oscars, also recently made the news in 2021. Following its advertisement inventory buy out in April, the Oscars met with its biggest decline in viewership count this year, reported media outlets such as CNBC. The show saw a near 59% drop from the 23.6 million viewers the award show garnered in 2020. The numbers released by Nielsen, reported on media sites, say that only 9.85 million viewers tuned in to the award show that aired on 25 April, has received various comments from netizens on twitter explaining why they did not tune in. 

CNBC reported that the drop in the viewership was "not entirely surprising" given award shows in general have faced declining viewership in recent years. Reports from Nielsen revealed in 2020, 23.6 million watched the telecast, which was a massive drop from 2019's 29.6 million viewers. In 2018, the number stood at 26.5 million. This year’s Oscars also saw a delay in the ceremony, with it normally being held in February.

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