Golden Globes breaks viewership record' - American Hustle' gets pole position for Academy nods

 NEW YORK (AP)

The Nielsen ratings company says the Golden Globe Awards ceremony hit a 10-year high in viewership.

According to national figures released yesterday, the NBC telecast, with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler co-hosting for a second year, was seen Sunday by 20.9 million viewers. That's an audience growth of 1.2 million viewers (or six per cent) over last year's show.

NBC said the telecast is currently the season's most-watched awards programme, topping the CMA Awards, Emmy Awards, American Music Awards and People's Choice Awards.

Fey and Poehler are set to return to the Globes in 2015.

For the fifth year, the Globes was televised live to all time zones and some Western markets also carried an encore telecast following the live coverage, which began at 5 p.m. Pacific time.

American Hustle got a very serious push towards Oscar glory, picking up three major awards.

Benefiting the most from Sunday night's Globes as focus shifts to the Academy Awards, David O. Russell's con caper locked in Best Comedy, Best Actress (Amy Adams) and Best Supporting Actress (Jennifer Lawrence).

Not that early-season favourite 12 Years a Slave isn't still in the running. Though it earned only one award, Steve McQueen's historical epic took home the night's top honour: Best Film Drama. But American Hustle seems to have emerged from the 71st annual Golden Globes as the film to beat.

Interestingly, Idris Elba (Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom), Chiwetel Ejiofer (12 Years a Slave), Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips) and Robert Redford (All Is Lost) were bested by Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club) for Best Performance in a Motion Picture.