Official rankings of the 48th annual competition Kennedy Center Honors aired, and the December 23 telecast averaged 3.01 million viewers. CBSaccording 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.
Founded in 1978 to recognize “people whose unique contributions have shaped our world,” the Kennedy Center Honors honored Sylvester Stallone, Michael Crawford, KISS, George Strait and Gloria Gaynor at the 2026 ceremony, which was hosted for the first time in history by a sitting U.S. president in the Trump administration, who previously headlined the NBC reality series. Student.
“At the request of the Board and almost everyone else in America, I am hosting this event,” he said. posted in Truth Social On December 23, I posted a special offer for my subscribers. “Tell me what you think of my 'master of ceremonies' abilities. If they are really good, would you like me to leave the presidency to make 'housekeeping' my full-time job?”
This year's Kennedy Center awards ceremony comes amid a series of controversial moves around the institution since Trump returned to office in January. These included replacing most of the Board of Regents appointed by his Democratic predecessors, appointing Trump as chairman and, most recently, changing the name of the memorial at the Trump Kennedy Center. They provoked a series of cancellations of previously scheduled performances. including several in the last week.
