The ratings for the 2018 Oscars were way down: who or what was to blame?

March 6, 2018

I watch awards shows every year. It’s my job, but honestly, I would watch this sh-t even if it wasn’t my job. I watch awards shows like other people watch football games or basketball games. I would follow the ups and downs of Oscar season even if I wasn’t being paid. I like watching the race, and I like seeing how everything plays out. And even though there were a lot of questions and a lot of races which were seemingly “in the air” going into Oscar night, let me tell you: this year’s Oscar season kind of sucked. The two most “consensus” films were both not-great. Three Billboards was problematic as f–k (I saw one reviewer call it “lazy” and now I can’t get that out of my head) and The Shape of Water was just La La Land But Fishy. No one, I thought, was really crazy-excited about these two films. And when it came down to the line, the Oscars telecast lost millions of viewers over the course of the year because of it.

It was an Oscar do-over last night for host Jimmy Kimmel, producers Mike De Luca and Jennifer Todd and Best Picture presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. Following last year’s Envelopegate, which led to Beatty and Dunaway inadvertently announcing a wrong Best Picture winner, the quartet’s second go-around went without a hitch.

But the good news did not carry over to ratings for the 90th Academy Awards, which (correctly) crowned The Shape of Water as Best Picture. Last night’s ceremony, which aired live from 8 PM – 11:54 PM EST, averaged 26.5 million viewers (Live+same day) . That was down -19% from last year’s 32.9 million viewers, a nine-year low. That, despite the fast that The Shape of Water was the the highest-grossing Best Picture winner in five years.

The drop is big — the Oscars had never fallen below 32 million viewers and 21 metered markets household rating before, forcing pundits to scratch their heads. One explanation — the Oscars rubber stamped winners who already had swept the awards shows that preceded it, making for one of the most predictable Academy Awards ceremony in years. Some pointed to the length of the show, which again flirted with the 4-hour mark, others to the ubiquitous montages, the overall modest box-office performance of the movies nominated for best picture and the injection of politics/social issues into the speeches. However, most if not all of these factors were also present the last couple of years when the numbers were higher. And the Oscars’ strongest competition, AMC’s The Walking Dead, was actually a more potent ratings performer in years past.

Here are the final viewership totals for the Academy Awards so far this century, what won Best Picture that year and who hosted:

2018 26.5 million, The Shape of Water (Jimmy Kimmel)
2017 32.9 million, Moonlight (Jimmy Kimmel)
2016 34.4 million, Spotlight (Chris Rock)
2015 37.3 million, Birdman (Neil Patrick Harris)
2014 43.7 million, 12 Years a Slave (Ellen DeGeneres)
2013 40.3 million, Argo (Seth MacFarlane)
2012 39.3 million, The Artist (Billy Crystal)
2011 37.9 million, The King’s Speech (Anne Hathaway/James Franco)
2010 41.3 million, The Hurt Locker (Steve Martin/Alec Baldwin)
2009 36.3 million, Slumdog Millionaire (Hugh Jackman)
2008 32.0 million, No Country For Old Men (Jon Stewart)
2007 40. 2 million, The Departed (Ellen DeGeneres)
2006 38.9 million, Crash (Jon Stewart)
2005 42.1 million, Million Dollar Baby (Chris Rock)
2004 43.5 million, The Lord Of The Rings: The Return of the King (Billy Crystal)
2003 33.0 million, Chicago (Steve Martin)
2002 41.8 million, A Beautiful Mind (Whoopi Goldberg)
2001 42.9 million, Gladiator (Steve Martin)

[From Deadline]

I actually remember a decade ago, when the 2008 telecast’s numbers fell off a cliff. There was a lot of hand-wringing then too, and Jon Stewart got some of the blame as host. I didn’t really think it was Stewart’s fault, nor do I think it was Jimmy Kimmel’s fault this year, although Kimmel might have been yet another factor in how “meh” this year’s Oscars felt. The past year was a dark time for Hollywood as the conversations were about rape and assault and harassment – and yet the ratings for this year’s Golden Globes were solid-to-okay, and that was the first big awards show following the #MeToo scandals. My take is that this is mostly about the Oscar races and the films being awarded, and the actual anticipation and strong feelings for particular films. If people had come into the Oscars Sunday evening feeling like Call Me By Your Name or Get Out were bigger contenders, I bet the ratings would have been better.

Also, consider this: this year’s Oscars had perhaps the saddest and most f–ked up red carpet preshows EVER, in the history of red carpet shows. I feel like there are a lot of people like me who tune in to the preshows just to see what people are wearing (and it really is that simple) and now Ryan Seacrest and Michael Strahan are just f–king up red carpet interviews completely. This year marked the worst “lead in” to the Oscars in my life and it’s possible that affected viewership too.

Oh yeah and they kept giving Oscars to alleged abusers and predators too.