A few more in the audience

Monday’s Golden Globes rebounded from last year’s dramatic audience drop-off, but NBC’s three-hour telecast -- attacked by many critics as dull and uninspired -- still delivered less-than-thrilling ratings as it honored such Oscar contenders as “Brokeback Mountain” and “Capote.”

An average of 18.7 million viewers tuned in, up 11% compared with the previous year’s record low, according to early data from Nielsen Media Research. The Globes tied with CBS’ Emmy telecast in September as the most-watched award show so far this season and made NBC the night’s No. 1 network. The results seemed to confirm the wisdom of shifting the Globes to Monday this year, largely to avoid competing with ABC’s Sunday night hit “Desperate Housewives.”

Still, the ratings were the second-lowest for any Globe telecast since 1997. Just three years ago, 26.8 million viewers tuned in, a record high over the last decade. This time, the Globes may have been hurt by successive episodes of Fox’s spy drama “24,” which averaged 14.9 million viewers.