Although ratings for this year’s Oscars were down just 6% among viewers — averaging 34.3 million viewers this year compared to last year’s 36.6 million — the telecast still hit an eight-year low and was the third-lowest viewed Oscars in history.

Among the key adult 18-49 demographic, ratings were down 4%, while the numbers improved among adults 18-34 and all key male demographics, according to Nielsen Media Research’s time-zone adjusted fast national ratings.

Chris Rock took on hosting duties, a tough job in a year where the lack of diversity among the nominees dominated the conversation leading up to the show and resulted in a trending hashtag: #OscarsSoWhite. Rock, who’s already well known for discussing issues of race in his comedy, took the topic head-on from the very beginning of the show. His resulting opening monologue generally received strong reviews from critics.

Some viewers did boycott the show as a result of the controversy, although it’s unlikely those boycotts seriously affected the ratings. More likely is the continual drop-off of over-the-air viewing by younger viewers. Just as CBS did with the Grammys, ABC had trouble with its live stream on Sunday night, frustrating people who were trying to view online. The stream also was only made available to viewers in select major markets and who could authenticate their viewing via a cable subscription.

Still, the show had to be counted as a victory for ABC, which nearly tripled its combined broadcast competition, all of which aired reruns against the year’s biggest awards show.

Meanwhile, the Oscars dominated the social conversation on Sunday night, with the moment that six-time nominee Leonardo DiCaprio finally won his first awkward becoming the most-tweeted moment in Oscar history. That beat out the previous record-holder: 2014 host Ellen Degeneres’ selfie with the stars. The Oscars reached a unique audience on Twitter of 12.9 million people.

RELATED: Ellen Breaks Twitter Record with Oscar Selfie

Read more: Deadline, Variety, The Wrap

[Image courtesy of ABC]

Tags:


  Save as PDF