Oscars' viewership plunge among young people should be especially disconcerting

The Washington Post

The 93rd Academy Awards being the lowest-rated in history with a 9.85 million viewers and a viewership drop of 58% from last year is in line with other pandemic-era major awards shows. The Grammys fell 51% from last year, while the Golden Globes dropped 63%. "But the Oscar results offered a sobering message beyond the pandemic," says The Washington Post's Steve Zeitchik. "Nielsen reported a tiny 1.9 rating among adults 18-49, the demographic that advertisers covet — a steep and worrisome dive for the Disney-owned ABC, which has a contract to air the awards through 2028. Just two years ago, the show brought in a 7.7 rating in the demographic. The viewership drop among 18- to 49-year-olds, which also marks a 64 percent decline from last year, potentially diminishes what ABC can charge for ads in future years. Meanwhile, the overall plunge in viewership could limit the number of people who will then go on to pay to watch a company’s film because they saw it on the show, an established trend. Last year’s big winner, Parasite, saw box office increase by 50 percent after the telecast. Even before covid, Oscar ratings had been in free-fall. Viewership during the 2010s plummeted to barely half of what it had been at the start of the decade. The show in 2010 had garnered 42 million viewers, but by 2020 only 24 million Americans were tuning in. The drops pose the question of whether the Oscars can bring Americans together over a shared love of movies — as it has for many years as the second-most-watched live TV event after the Super Bowl — or a niche event that celebrates an industry and satisfies fans but is not a unifying force in pop culture."

ALSO:

• Late-night hosts weigh in on 93rd Oscars debacle with former host Jimmy Kimmel calling the telecast an "elaborate funeral": “Speaking of elaborate funerals,” Kimmel said in his monologue, “did you watch the Oscars last night? Not that many people did.” Kimmel added: “This was the Oscars that finally answered the question, ‘What happens when you don’t cut off the acceptance speeches?’ Turns out, they go on for a very long time.”
• Trevor Noah, Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon had fun with Daniel Kaluuya's Oscar acceptance speech awkward sex joke: "Did this guy just say 'sex' in front of his African mother?" said Noah. "Yo, let me tell you something. Forget saying 'my parents had sex,' just to say 'sex' in front of African parents will be instantly rewarded by an a-- whupping of monumental proportions, people." He added: "You can't be saying 'sex' in front of African parents. In fact, I'm sure the only reason she didn't whup Daniel's a** right there is because there were too many white people in attendance."
• Stephen Colbert celebrated Late Show bandleader Jon Batiste's Oscar for Soul
• Warner Bros. spent $5 million to $7 million to promote Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights -- a lot of money to reach less than 10 million viewers
• Critics of "woke" Oscars from Megyn Kelly to Piers Morgan had a field day with Oscar ratings plunge