The Kennedy Center is dismissing the ratings performance of the Donald Trump-hosted 2025 Kennedy Center honors, which received record-low television viewership.
Going into the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors, President Trump — who hand-picked the honorees and emceed the event — promised the “highest-rated show that they’ve ever done.” However, according to Nielsen data, the December 23rd broadcast ended up drawing only 3.01 million viewers, a 26% year-over-year decline from the 2024 ceremony, which was watched by 4.1 million people.
Roma Daravi, vice president of public relations for the Kennedy Center, is now pushing back against the low ratings narrative, saying in a statement (via The Hollywood Reporter): “Comparing this year’s broadcast ratings to prior years is a classic apples-to-oranges comparison and evidence of far-left bias. The program performed extremely well across key demographics and platforms, despite industry and timing disadvantages, including a Tuesday air date two days before Christmas.”
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“With overall television usage down roughly 20 percent year over year, the broadcast still tied for the #1 spot among adults aged 25–54, alongside a live NBA doubleheader,” Daravi added. “And on social media, Honors garnered 1.5 billion impressions in just one night — up from only 50 million similar impressions last year. This was a successful night celebrating the outstanding achievements of our Honorees at the Trump Kennedy Center.”
While it’s true the 2024 Kennedy Center Honors aired on a Sunday and benefited from an NFL lead-in, the broadcast has long been scheduled around Christmas. For example, the 2023 ceremony aired on Wednesday, December 27, while the 2022 event aired on Tuesday, December 28. Nevertheless, both broadcasts drew respectable audiences: 5.3 million viewers in 2022 and 4.5 million in 2023.