Kennedy Center defends this year Kennedy Center Honors after Donald Trump the hosted telecast generated record low viewership for CBS.
The December 23 telecast averaged 3.01 million viewers. CBS, according to Nielsen Live + Same Day Panel + Big Data. This is a record low audience for the annual special, down from 4.1 million live+ same day viewers last year when it aired on a football-themed Sunday. 60 minutes introductory. This year the event was broadcast on Tuesday.
Roma Daravi, the center's vice president of public affairs, said in a statement: “Compared to this year's broadcast ratings with previous years is a classic comparison of apples to oranges and evidence of far-left bias. The program performed very well among key demographics and platforms despite industry and timing challenges, including airing on a Tuesday, two days before Christmas.
She added: “With overall television usage down about 20 percent from last year, the broadcast continued to rank number one among adults 25-54, along with live NBA coverage. And on social media, Honors generated 1.5 billion impressions in just one night—compared to 50 million similar impressions last year. It was a successful evening celebrating the outstanding achievements of our honorees at the Trump Kennedy Center.”
The social media data and the 20% decline in social media usage could not be immediately confirmed (digital numbers do not have the same standard measurement as Nielsen TV ratings). Since Trump took office, the Kennedy Center has periodically stated that the media is biased against stories that negatively reflect on the center's activities.
The center also reported that this year's ceremony raised $23 million, which it said was nearly double last year's total.
Sylvester Stallone, Michael Crawford, KISS, George Strait and Gloria Gaynor were honored at the Dec. 7 ceremony, which was taped for broadcast. It was the first time that the ceremony was performed by a sitting US president. Within weeks of taking office, Trump seized control of the center by firing Joe Biden and Barack Obama appointees to the board, ensuring he would be elected chairman of the arts institution.
Last month, after the ceremony, the board voted to add Trump's name to the Kennedy Center, which was established by an act of Congress in 1964. Members of the Kennedy family objected to the renaming, and one ex-officio member of the board, Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), sued, arguing that only Congress could change the institution's name.
