The annual Kennedy Center Honors ceremony, which this year featured President Donald Trump as host, suffered a dramatic collapse in television viewership, according to preliminary data. The broadcast on Tuesday 23 December 2025 attracted an estimated 2.65 million viewers, representing a steep 35 percent decline compared to the previous year.
Historic Low for Prestigious Awards Show
Programming Insider, citing preliminary Nielsen figures, reported that the event ‘drew its smallest ever audience on December 23.’ This starkly contrasts with the 4.1 million viewers who tuned in for the 2024 broadcast. Trump had become the first sitting president to host the ceremony, claiming the venue's board and "just about everybody else in America" had requested his participation.
The controversy surrounding the event was amplified by a recent vote from a Trump-appointed board to rename the iconic Washington performing arts centre in his honour. Trump promoted the ceremony on his Truth Social platform as “THE TRUMP KENNEDY CENTER HONORS.” However, this move faced immediate legal and institutional pushback.
Network Defiance and Family Outrage
Leadership at CBS News, which aired the event, explicitly instructed staff not to adopt the new name. In an internal email obtained by The Washington Post, the network stated it would continue to refer to the “Kennedy Center” because an official name change requires Congressional approval. The directive added that if administration officials used the new name in a soundbite, "that is their prerogative," but staff should not use it unless directly quoting someone.
Furthermore, CBS heavily edited Trump's opening remarks from the 7 December taping. His 12-minute speech was cut down to just two minutes for the televised broadcast. The decision to rename the centre also provoked fierce criticism from the Kennedy family. Maria Shriver, President Kennedy's niece, wrote on X that she was “speechless, and enraged, and in a state of disbelief.”
Legal Challenges and Political Motivations
Legal experts have questioned the board's authority to enact the name change. David Super, a Georgetown law professor, told The Washington Post that under current statute, the board likely lacks the power to rename the centre and would need permission from Congress. He noted the law is "pretty unequivocal" on the matter.
Jack Schlossberg, the late president's grandson, suggested the renaming was politically motivated, linking it to his own campaign for Congress in New York. He stated on X, “Our campaign represents everything Trump can’t stand or defeat.” The confluence of the name controversy, the host's divisiveness, and the network's editorial decisions created a perfect storm, culminating in the show's record-low ratings performance.
