The much argued-over changes to the Oscars TV show format appear to have paid off, with an increase of more than 11% in audience ratings for this year’s edition.
With no main host, a shortened running time, and an absence of convoluted comedy skits, the telecast looked considerably different from the year before, which had scored record low viewership figures of 26.5m.
However, figures from Nielsen’s audience measuring system show that this year’s Oscars scored 29.6m, with a 7.7 rating in the coveted 18-49 age demographic. An overall increase of 11.1%, this represents the first upward movement since 2014 – but still is the second lowest ever audience figure. Conversely, the Oscars remains the most watched non-sport live event on US TV.
The ratings hike will come as good news for the beleaguered Academy management, who had come under increasing criticism for a series of disastrously received proposals to try and invigorate the show and prevent its audience decline. Its chosen host, Kevin Hart, stepped down after an outcry over perceived homophobic comments and tweets; a proposal for a best popular film Oscar was dropped after widespread ridicule; a plan to drop performances of three of the five Oscar-nominated songs had to be cancelled, a suggestion that presentations by last year’s acting winners be ditched in favour of more attention-grabbing names was swiftly reversed, as was the idea of non-live presentations for certain categories.
In the event, the inclusion of more commercially appealing elements – such as a performance by rock band Queen that opened the show, and the presence of “popular” films such as Bohemian Rhapsody and Green Book in the climatic awards handouts, appear to have helped the telecast improve its ratings – even if it didn’t quite manage to keep the running time down to the promised three hours, finally clocking in 20 minutes over.
