The Kennedy Center Honors television broadcast has recorded its lowest audience in the history of the event, with the 2025 ceremony attracting significantly fewer viewers than the already diminished audience of 2024. Early ratings data indicate that the CBS broadcast averaged approximately 2.65 million viewers, a steep fall from the 4.1 million who tuned in last year, representing a decline of more than 35 percent.
The comparison with 2024 is stark. That ceremony, staged during President Joe Biden’s administration, had already been considered a ratings nadir for the long running cultural institution. The 2025 broadcast has now reset that benchmark, marking a new record low and intensifying questions about the future television viability of one of America’s most prestigious arts honours.
The 48th Kennedy Center Honors were held in Washington, DC on December 7 and broadcast on December 23, a scheduling decision that placed the show on a Tuesday night just days before Christmas. While timing and tape delay have historically influenced audience numbers, the sharp year on year drop has drawn attention to the broader changes surrounding the event, particularly the unprecedented decision for a sitting US president to host the ceremony.
Donald Trump became the first president to serve as host in the history of the Kennedy Center Honors. In the lead up to the broadcast, Trump publicly promoted his role and suggested widespread enthusiasm for his hosting duties. He also informally rebranded the ceremony as “The Trump Kennedy Center Honors” following a vote by a reconstituted board that had installed Trump as chair earlier in the year.
Despite those ambitions, the televised version of the ceremony presented a restrained version of Trump’s involvement. His opening remarks, reportedly lasting around 12 minutes during the live event, were edited down to approximately two minutes for the CBS broadcast. The network continued to refer to the institution as the Kennedy Center, maintaining its long established name linked to the late President John F. Kennedy.
The Kennedy Center Honors have been a cornerstone of American cultural recognition since their inception in 1978. The annual gala was designed to celebrate lifetime artistic achievement across music, film, theatre, dance and popular culture. Over nearly five decades, the ceremony has honoured figures ranging from Led Zeppelin and Aretha Franklin to Joni Mitchell, Johnny Cash and Paul McCartney, blending popular music with classical and theatrical traditions.
In recent years, however, television audiences for the event have steadily declined. In 2022, the broadcast attracted more than five million viewers, already well below the numbers seen in the early 2000s when the show regularly exceeded eight million. The fall to 4.1 million in 2024 signalled a significant shift in viewing habits, competition from streaming platforms and reduced cultural centrality of broadcast television events. The 2025 figures underline how fragile the audience base has become.
The 2025 honourees themselves reflected the broad scope that has long defined the Kennedy Center Honors. Country music icon George Strait was recognised for his enduring influence and commercial success. Singer Gloria Gaynor was honoured for her lasting impact on disco and popular music, anchored by her global anthem I Will Survive. Actor Michael Crawford was acknowledged for his career spanning stage and screen, while Sylvester Stallone was honoured for his contributions to cinema as both actor and filmmaker. Rock band KISS completed the list, marking the group’s transition from touring juggernaut to legacy act following their farewell concerts.
These artists were selected by a Kennedy Center board that had undergone major changes earlier in the year. In February, Trump dismissed existing board members and appointed new figures aligned with his administration, subsequently installing himself as chair. That move, along with the attempted renaming of the institution, prompted strong reactions from members of the Kennedy family and arts community figures concerned about the politicisation of a historically bipartisan cultural space.
For CBS, the ratings outcome represents a difficult result for a broadcast that once served as a reliable prestige event within the network’s annual schedule. For the Kennedy Center, the figures raise deeper questions about relevance, governance and how the institution connects with contemporary audiences in an era where cultural consumption is increasingly fragmented.
While the 2025 broadcast may be remembered for its record low audience, its longer term impact may be measured by how the Kennedy Center responds. Whether future ceremonies can reclaim broader public attention, or whether the event continues its gradual shift away from mass television appeal, remains an open question as the institution approaches its 50th anniversary.
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