Preliminary Data Show Kennedy Center Honors Drawing Its Smallest Audience Ever

President Trump predicted that the broadcast of the Kennedy Center Honors, which he hosted this year, would have its highest ratings ever, but preliminary data from Nielsen show that not to be the case. Mr. Trump hosted the Kennedy Center Honors, which date back to 1978 and are meant to honor “individuals whose unique contributions have shaped our world,” according to the Kennedy Center’s website. He is the first president to host the show. Hours before the celebration began, Mr. Trump asked social media users to let him know what they thought of his hosting skills, joking, “If really good, would you like me to leave the Presidency in order to make ‘hosting’ a full time job?”The numbers are unlikely to win the president the gig. Preliminary data from Nielsen, which could change, show that Tuesday’s broadcast drew in just 2.65 million viewers, down from 4.1 million viewers in 2024, marking a 35 percent decrease. In 2022, the honors drew in 5.2 million viewers. A veteran media reporter, Josef Adalian, wrote on X that the audience in the key advertising demographic of 25-54 year olds was about half of what it was in 2024. Mr. Adalian noted that even a 25 percent increase in the final numbers would put the ratings for this year’s broadcast “well below” last year’s figures. This year’s honorees included country music singer George Strait, the four original members of the rock band KISS, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss, and Ace Frehley, Grammy Award-winning singer Gloria Gaynor, and screen actor Sylvester Stallone, and Tony Award-winning actor Michael Crawford. Weeks before the celebration aired, Mr. Trump predicted, “It’s going to be something that, I believe, and I’m going to make a prediction: this will be the highest-rated show that they’ve ever done and they’ve gotten some pretty good ratings, but there’s nothing like what’s going to happen.”CBS, which broadcast the celebration, did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication. The ceremony is still available to watch on streaming platforms.The lower ratings coincide with controversy around the Kennedy Center’s identification. Last week, the organization’s board added Mr. Trump’s name to the center and to the building’s signage. It now reads, “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Performing Arts.”The facility’s website says its name is now “The Trump Kennedy Center.”House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries argued that the board did not have the authority to change the name of the facility without congressional approval. However, the interim president of the center, Richard Grenell, who was appointed by Mr. Trump, disagreed, saying, “The decision of the Trump Kennedy Center Board doesn’t impact the Memorial to Kennedy set up by Congress.”In another embarrassment for the renamed cultural complex, a traditional Christmas Eve jazz concert was canceled on short notice after the show’s host, musician Chuck Redd, pulled out to protest the name change.“When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert,” Mr. Redd wrote in an email to The Associated Press on Wednesday. Mr. Redd had hosted the annual event since 2006.Other artists have threatened to cancel their performances at the facility to register their disapproval of the name change. Southern folk musician Kristy Lee announced last week that she was canceling her scheduled January performance. “The center was created to honor art, culture, and shared national purpose,” Ms. Lee said. “Using it for personal promotion diminishes its meaning and erodes the dignity owed to the legacy of a fallen president.” The center’s website no longer shows her appearance on the schedule.

Preliminary Data Show Kennedy Center Honors Drawing Its Smallest Audience Ever

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