Highlights
- The 83rd Academy Awards were critically panned for being boring and predictable and it seems that the audience too were not entertained by them with the ceremony witnessing a 10 per cent slump compared to the last year.
- Countering a trend toward higher ratings earlier this year for the Golden Globes, the Grammys and other awards, the Oscarsrounded up just 37.6 million total viewers, slumping 10 per cent compared with last year, according to the Nielsen
- Com, the Los Angeles Times reported.
- Most of the criticism was directed at young hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway's poor performance, who were roped in by the show bosses to improve ratings in the younger audience but it seems that they could not help the ratings much.
- The Oscars tumbled in the key category of adults ages 18 to 49. The three-hour-plus show delivered an 11.7 rating, for an 11 per cent drop in that advertiser-friendly category.
- The reviews mostly ranged from the unimpressed to the downright brutal.
- Los Angeles Times critic Mary McNamara wrote that the co-hosts did everything expected of them but nevertheless "played it safe." The Hollywood Reporter said it was one of the all-time worst Oscar telecasts. Comments on The Times' Show Tracker site criticized Hathaway as overeager and Franco as too detached.
- Despite the harsh reviews, the show fared better than in 2009, when 'Slumdog Millionaire' won (36.3 million) and in 2008, when the best picture prize went to 'No Country for Old Men' (32 million).
- One of the reasons being given for the slump in viewership is the award fatigue and predictability. The awards this year held no surprises and the viewers have already seen most of the films winning in similar categories in the last few months.
- The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is weighing whether to hold their ceremony earlier in the awards cycle to combat the fatigue factor.
- The Academy has tried various methods to boost the ratings.
- Last year it expanded the Best Picture nomination from five to ten to include more popular films.
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Oscars 2011: WinnersThe 83rd Academy Awards were critically panned for being boring and predictable and it seems that the audience too were not entertained by them with the ceremony witnessing a 10 per cent slump compared to the last year.
Countering a trend toward higher ratings earlier this year for the Golden Globes, the Grammys and other awards, the Oscarsrounded up just 37.6 million total viewers, slumping 10 per cent compared with last year, according to the Nielsen
Com, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Most of the criticism was directed at young hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway's poor performance, who were roped in by the show bosses to improve ratings in the younger audience but it seems that they could not help the ratings much.
The Oscars tumbled in the key category of adults ages 18 to 49. The three-hour-plus show delivered an 11.7 rating, for an 11 per cent drop in that advertiser-friendly category.
The reviews mostly ranged from the unimpressed to the downright brutal.
Los Angeles Times critic Mary McNamara wrote that the co-hosts did everything expected of them but nevertheless "played it safe." The Hollywood Reporter said it was one of the all-time worst Oscar telecasts. Comments on The Times' Show Tracker site criticized Hathaway as overeager and Franco as too detached.
Despite the harsh reviews, the show fared better than in 2009, when 'Slumdog Millionaire' won (36.3 million) and in 2008, when the best picture prize went to 'No Country for Old Men' (32 million).
One of the reasons being given for the slump in viewership is the award fatigue and predictability. The awards this year held no surprises and the viewers have already seen most of the films winning in similar categories in the last few months.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is weighing whether to hold their ceremony earlier in the awards cycle to combat the fatigue factor.
The Academy has tried various methods to boost the ratings.
Last year it expanded the Best Picture nomination from five to ten to include more popular films.