SHOCKER: Oscars Had the Lowest Ratings in Years

By Madeleine Davies  |  February 24, 2015 | 7:45pm
Latest

This Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony—hosted by #1 Neil Patrick Harris fan, Neil Patrick Harris—received the lowest ratings of any Oscars broadcast since Hugh Jackman hosted in 2009. That means more people tuned in to watch James Franco and Anne Hathaway’s hosting debacle in 2011 than they did this weekend. Ouch.

“Sunday’s trophy ceremony on ABC…averaged just 36.6 million viewers, according to preliminary Nielsen estimates,” reports USA Today. “That’s a steep 16% drop from 43.7 million last year, when Ellen DeGeneres hosted and 12 Years a Slave won best picture. Among adults ages 18 to 49, the Oscar telecast dropped 18%.”

Up from past years was the number of non-white presenters, proving that, yeah, the Oscars totally has black friends. Whereas 2012 included a dismal one non-white presenter (Chris Rock), 2013 had eight and 2014 had twelve, this year hosted fifteen presenters of color.

“We’ve always been very conscious of diversity in terms of our presenters and our performers,” said Academy Awards producer Neil Meron (via the LA Times). “We feel that’s the way the world exists. We’ve always been believers in having an Oscar show that reflects the way the world exists.”

A good reminder for both Meron and the Oscars audience: This year’s acting categories failed to feature a single actor of color and the Academy voters continue to be “overwhelmingly” white and male, so if “having an Oscar show that reflects the way the world exists” means having an Oscars show that reflects alarming white supremacy, than, yes, you guys totally nailed it.

Image via the AP.

 
Join the discussion...