Kennedy Center blasts ‘far-left bias’ in ratings coverage, points to No. 1 demographics tie
The Trump–Kennedy Center is pushing back on a recent media narrative that its annual Honors awards show suffered a ratings flop under President Donald Trump compared to years prior, arguing...
By Fox News · Fox News
The Trump–Kennedy Center is pushing back on a recent media narrative that its annual Honors awards show suffered a ratings flop under President Donald Trump compared to years prior, arguing that the broadcast performed strongly despite industry-wide headwinds and a dramatically different scheduling landscape. "Comparing this year’s broadcast ratings to prior years is a classic apples-to-oranges comparison and evidence of far-left bias," Roma Daravi, Trump–Kennedy Center vice president of public relations, told Fox News Digital of the ratings. "The program performed extremely well across key demographics and platforms, despite industry and timing disadvantages, including a Tuesday air date two days before Christmas." The 48th Kennedy Center Honors awards show was held in Washington, D.C., Dec. 7 and honored artists such as country singer George Strait, the members of rock band KISS, Tony-award winner Michael Crawford, Grammy-winner Gloria Gaynor, and Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone. The awards show is held each year to celebrate "individuals whose unique artistic contributions have shaped our world," according to its website. Trump hosted the event, with its broadcast held weeks late Dec. 23, 2025, on CBS and Paramount+. JONATHAN TURLEY: TRUMP’S KENNEDY CENTER NAME CHANGE WILL KEEP LAWYERS BUSY FOR YEARS The event averaged 3.01 million viewers, which is a 25% drop from 2024's ratings when an average 4.1 million viewers tuned in, according to a report from Nielsen Live + Same Day Panel + Big Data reported by Variety in December. The ratings yielded headlines reporting that viewership "plummeted," and late-night hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert mocked Trump for hosting "the lowest-rated Kennedy Center Honors telecast of all time," as Kimmel said in his Monday monologue. Daravi countered that viewership for the awards show "tied for the #1 spot among adults aged 25–54, alongside a live NBA doubleheader" while citing that overall TV usage is "down roughly 20 per…