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Donald Trump is, of course, obsessed with numbers - IQ, newspaper subscribers (see above) and, in particular, TV ratings. His obsession with numbers is surely due to his being a "money" guy who has been keeping score his whole life. It probably also has to do with his cognition; he "gets" numbers, and likely struggles with things that are a little more abstract. Meanwhile, his particular interest in TV ratings undoubtedly dates back to his days as a reality TV star.

We cannot imagine how Trump and/or the people around him managed to put the idea in his head that, as soon as he imposed himself on the Kennedy Center, and he appointed himself host of the Kennedy Center Honors, ratings would be through the roof. That obviously wasn't going to happen. Beyond the fact that many viewers actively boycotted, the fact is that the show was broadcast at a time when people are occupied by holiday-related events. It also does not help that pretty much all the honorees - George Strait, rock band KISS, stage/screen star Michael Crawford, disco pioneer Gloria Gaynor, and actor Sylvester Stallone - had their heydays in the 1970s, or maybe 1980s, and so are well outside the cultural frame-of-reference for many viewers (say, any viewers under the age of 40).

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For all of these reasons, the ratings were, predictably, very poor. It attracted just 2.65 million viewers, which is the smallest total in the history of the program. It is considerably fewer than last year (4.1 million), and is well down from the show's peak of 5.6 million viewers in 2019, when the show Sesame Street was honored. This year's Kennedy Center broadcast trailed a re-broadcast of Frosty the Snowman, a re-broadcast of Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Saturday Night Live, Good Morning America, The CBS Evening News, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune and about 40 others. It was, of course, completely outclassed by the #1 program of the week, which was The NFL on CBS, with about 25 million viewers.

To add insult to injury, CBS edited Trump's 12-minute opening monologue down to just 2 minutes for broadcast. It's not clear if Trump knows that or not, but he probably does. Maybe it helps explain the tweets (see above). We wonder if he will insist on hosting again next year, or if he'll learn his lesson, and hand hosting duties over to someone else. Maybe Donald Trump Jr. can take over; apropos for a winter program, he'd undoubtedly bring his own snow.

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And that's not the only Kennedy Center-related news this week. Chuck Redd, a drummer and vibraphone player, has been hosting a Christmas Eve jazz program, called "Jazz Jams," at the Kennedy Center for the last 20 years. However, once Donald Trump's name was slapped on the building, Redd canceled the show. "When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert," he explained to The Associated Press.

Trump acolyte Richard Grenell, who is now the president of the Kennedy Center, quickly fired off a nasty letter to Redd. It offers a master class in MAGA rhetoric. For example, from the opening portion of the missive:

Your decision to withdraw at the last moment"explicitly in response to the Center's recent renaming, which honors President Trump's extraordinary efforts to save this national treasure"is classic intolerance and very costly to a non-profit Arts institution.

Regrettably, your action surrenders to the sad bullying tactics employed by certain elements on the left, who have sought to intimidate artists into boycotting performances at our national cultural center.

"Disagreement" and "intolerance" are not synonyms, nor are "boycotts"/"pushing for boycotts" and "bullying."

The letter also has this:

Your dismal ticket sales and lack of donor support, combined with your last-minute cancellation has cost us considerably. This is your official notice that we will seek $1 million in damages from you for this political stunt.

So, Redd's concert was selling no tickets and attracting no financial support. And yet, by canceling it, he's cost the institution $1 million - far above the take for even a very successful performance. You can't have it both ways... unless you are utilizing MAGA logic.

Things are certainly going to get worse at the Kennedy Center before they get better. There are already plenty of acts who don't want to have any association with a particularly unpopular administration, and a particularly unpopular maneuver by that administration. Now that threats of lawsuits are flying? Better to just leave the Kennedy Center off the itinerary completely. There are certainly artists and traveling shows who will be more than happy to make an appearance, but we doubt there are enough of them for 365 days of programming. Further, we're not sure that, say, Lee Greenwood or Larry the Cable Guy are a great match for the demographics of D.C. (Z)