Why You Can't Watch the 2022 Golden Globes on TV

The 79th annual Golden Globe Awards will be held on Sunday, Jan. 9 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, California, but you won't be able to watch the show on TV. After a slew of controversies rocked the show last year, NBC canceled its plans to host the live broadcast. According to a report by Variety, organizers have been unable to convince any other network to take the job.

The Golden Globes are hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which is the source of most of the controversy around the award show. Last year, The L.A. Times published two exposés on the HFPA the day before the Golden Globes, insinuating that the organization was open to "courting" by studios and prospective nominees, and also pointing out the lack of diversity among the HFPA's voting populace. As the outcry over these reports mounted – including some A-list celebrity voices – NBC decided not to host the event.

According to Variety, no other networks showed any interest either. The outlet also obtained a letter sent to various talent agencies in the industry asking for celebrities to host and/or present awards, but none signed on. Publicly, HFPA president Helen Hoehne has said that the Golden Globes simply won't be "the celebrity-driven event like it has been in the past."

"We realize this year is different, so we're going to probably also try something different for January 9," she said. Instead, only "select members and grantees" will be at the in-person event where awards will be announced. Attendance is being limited in part due to the nationwide surge in new COVID-19 cases, and attendees will be required to show proof of vaccination and booster shots. They will also need to show a negative PCR test taken within 48 hours before the show, and masks and social distancing will be enforced as well.

The media is not attending the Golden Globes this year, and there will be no red carpet event. The nominees were announced in December on an official Golden Globes YouTube channel, but it is not clear if the award show itself will be live-streamed online somewhere for general audiences.

In all the announcements around this event, the HFPA has stressed the changes it has made in the last few years as well as the philanthropy it has been involved in before. One press release said: "Over the last eight months, the HFPA has completely overhauled their bylaws, implementing sweeping changes from top to bottom that address ethics and code of conduct, diversity, equity and inclusion, governance, membership and more. Recently, the HFPA admitted their largest and most diverse class to date of 21 new members, all of whom are first-time Golden Globe voters."