Oscar ratings Down 8% from last year

That's quite an achievement considering last year's was also the dumps.
Ah for the heady days of the Chris Rock era!.........

cloud dreamer...

If they want ratings....hire Robin Williams to host and give him a free
hand....that'd be worth the 3 hours.

No Soup For You...

Get Lauren Bacall to host. Make it a 12-hour telethon...

moviePig...

Wonder if Jon Stewart's more or less to blame than Chris Rock? And it'd
be interesting to know if any one demographic particularly declined...

Derek Janssen...

Same theory as movie opening-weekends:
Only when it's a sporting/event of no known outcome and and no announced
plot, there is, quite simply, *no physically possible way* that logic
could blame bad ratings on a show that hadn't happened yet--
Viewers who didn't even bother to tune in before the show came on are
likely judging from past evidence, ie:
A) No one likes the teams, and
B) Bad memories from last year.

Derek Janssen...

(One might just as well blame bad Super Bowl ratings on the Steelers
winning...Someone's got a little problem with "cause and effect" sequence.)

...Most casual viewers didn't even KNOW who was hosting; they tune in to
see Who Wins, and if it's BBM (as every single newspaper swore on a
stack of bibles for the last two months that it would be), who cares?

moviePig...

I would've thought that expectations of Stewart (pro or con) or memories
of Rock would've carried some weight... but maybe I'm cloistered. But

Derek Janssen...

(More the latter than the former. Much, MUCH more.
It's always easier to dread the past than predict the future.)

the 5 movies themselves underlie my demographics question, e.g., whether
the "upscale" nature of this years contenders remixed the viewership.

nellie123123...

Here's you answer from zap2it
"Ratings among adults 18-49, the demographic prized by advertisers,
were also off from last year. This year's broadcast scored a 13.9
rating in the demo, down about 8 percent from last year's 15.1."

It also says
Those are hardly small numbers, but they don't stack up all that well
against recent Oscarcasts. Last year, which like this featured no
blockbusters among the best picture nominees the show averaged 42.1
million viewers; in 2004, 43.5 million tuned in as "The Lord of the
Rings: The Return of the King" swept the awards.

Sunday's show was only the second time since 1987 that the Oscars
failed to reach 40 million viewers. The 2003 awards averaged only about
33 million, the lowest since Nielsen started tracking total viewers for
the Oscars in 1974"

The lack of blockbusters definitely lost the winning demographic.

moviePig...

Thanks for digging... that's a bit clarifying. Makes a small quandary
for the Academy voters, who apparently cannot serve both art and mammon.

Derek Janssen...

If you're saying that more "grownups" tuned in to see "Munich" win than
"teens" tuning in to see Star Wars 3 win the MTV Movie Award, then,
um...yeah:
The Oscars attracted people who wanted to see a show about movies.

If you wanted Stewart, he was already doing his own material on another
channel four days a week, and if you only tuned in to see what Charlize
Theron was wearing, Joan Rivers was only to happy to provide
excruciating detail on another cable channel.
The rest of us were taking improvised living-room bar bets on Best
Costume and Cinematography.

Derek Janssen (who lost a few on just how MANY "Geisha" walked away with)
ejanss@comcast.net

Derek Janssen (now, me, I tune in to see the Chuck Workman montages, and
to root for Wallace & Grommit)
ejanss@comcast.net

nellie123123...

I doubt it. I have seen numerous reports that award shows, generally
speaking are dropping off. I think the Oscars in 2003 had something
like 33million. They may go up a little some years but the trend is
down from a decade ago. They're just not as popular now as they once
were.

Maybe if there were blockbusters ala Star Wars, Lord of The Rings up
for big prizes, more would tune in.

patty1...

Yeah, but would he ever pause to let people present any awards? ;-)

Once some years ago Apple hired Williams to perform at a tent party
on the Apple campus. The Flying Karamozov Brothers were also there.
I had a friend visiting that afternoon and I tried to convince him
that such parties were a standard Friday-afternoon Apple event, but
I don't think he bought it. ;-) It sure was a kick.

Justin Pate...

I'm pretty sure the ratings are going to keep going down as long as
Hollywood continues with its left-wing agenda that is completely
different from the average American.

Hiring another left-winger to host the Oscars isn't going to bring the
ratings up.

Ann Coulter would get higher ratings hosting the Oscars than the most
famous celebrity in Hollywood right now could get.

jmpc...

I love it when repugs get jealous

cloud dreamer...

Oh, for god's sake. How sad your life must be to look at everything as
so black and white as right and left.

Williams is funny. I want to see him host the Oscars for no other
reason. Is that so complicated?

Justin Pate...

CliffB...

I wish Sam Kinison was still alive. He could've brought some energy and
dignity to the proceedings.

You said Robin Williams would bring in the ratings. I simply
disagreed. Is that so complicated?

cloud dreamer...

Because he's "left wing"? Foolishness.

Justin Pate...

Oh really? Then how come the resident lackey of the left Jon Stewart
couldn't improve upon the dreadful ratings Chris Rock got last year?
We see the left can't do the job. So let's give a known righty a shot
at hosting the Oscars. Hell, get O'Reilly. That would be fun. Who
wouldn't watch?

cloud dreamer...

People aren't watching because they're "left".

They're not watching cause they're not funny. Simple.

Lava...

I'm not a lefty or right but I enjoyed Jon Stewart. I think his political

wdstarr...

That gurgling noise you hear is what's left of your credibility
going down the drain. (The raucous laughter you're hearing, on
the other hand, should require no explanation.)

humor would have made the show more popular. As Chris Rocks "street" humor
would have that show more popular. Overall it was boring but he did a lot
with what he had to work with.

Anyway, I could never see a right wing person doing anything funny. They
take themselves to seriously.