Golden Globes ratings plummet

NEW YORK, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- An estimated 5.8 million viewers tuned in to watch the celebrity-starved Golden Globes program that aired on the U.S. NBC network Sunday night.

The awards presentation, which was initially slated to air exclusively on NBC, was scaled down to a press conference open to all media, as a result of the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike.

NBC packaged the awards announcement as a news magazine-style program, while E!, TV Guide Channel and CNN showed the actual Golden Globes news conference.

Ratings for those airings have not yet been released, The Hollywood Reporter said.

About 20 million people watched the full-length Golden Globes gala on NBC last year, which was the highest rating NBC's telecast of the event had gotten since 2004.

"Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," the new TV drama based on the "Terminator" film franchise, attracted about 18.3 million viewers when it premiered Sunday night.