Golden Globes 2014: Ratings soar to biggest audience in 10 years

This Tina Fey-Amy Poehler thing may be working out for the Golden Globes.

Sunday’s 71st Golden Globe Awards on NBC soared to the show’s highest ratings in 10 years, with 20.9 million total viewers, according to Nielsen.

Co-hosting for the second year in a row were Fey and Poehler, two former “Saturday Night Live” stars who went on to successful NBC sitcoms and have been credited with reviving the Globes broadcast after several years of lackluster ratings. Poehler even earned a best actress prize -- her first Globe -- for her work on the comedy “Parks and Recreation.”

This year’s numbers climbed 6% compared with those of last year, when 19.7 million tuned in -- ratings that were themselves seen as a breakthrough for the Globes at the time.

Golden Globes 2014: Full coverage | Show highlights | Best & Worst | Top winners/nomineesThe audience was the biggest for any awards show on broadcast TV since last February’s Academy Awards, which was seen by more than 40 million on ABC.

“Breaking Bad” won the Globe for TV drama, while Fox’s new sitcom “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” took the TV comedy prize in an upset. The prize for best film went to “12 Years a Slave,” boosting its Oscar chances.

Reviews for the Globe telecast were generally positive, even if some complained about the relative brevity of screen time for Fey and Poehler after the opening jokes.

“Despite the dangerously high expectations, Poehler and Fey returned Sunday night in fine form,” Times critic Mary McNamara wrote. “In opening the three-hour show, they perfectly balanced their insider knowledge with their outsider personas to create a heady brand of wide-eyed yet stinging commentary.”

MORE: Red carpet arrivals | Complete list | Quotes from the stars | Main story | Nominee reactionsFey and Poehler are due back again next year. In October, the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., which administers the Globes, announced the duo would host the program for two more years.

What did you think of the Globes and the co-hosts?

ALSO:

Winter TCA Press Tour: The scene

TCA: “Salem” brews new witches brew for WGN America

TCA: “10 Commandments” to become scripted event for WGN America