Posted on 02/25/2008 4:24:28 PM PST by abb
This season continues to be no country for network award shows.
Following the lowest-rated Emmys since 1990, the strike-hindered ratings performance of a severely truncated version of the Golden Globes and a nonstruck airing of the Grammys that nonetheless disappointed, Sunday night's presentation of the 80th Annual Academy Awards on ABC hit an all-time ratings low.
According to overnight fast national ratings, the awards averaged a 10.7 rating among adults 18 to 49 and was seen by 32 million viewers. In the demo, that's down a sharp 24% from last year and the lowest on record. Among viewers, that's a 20% drop. The previous all-time low was in 2003.
Last night's Oscar telecast, where "No Country for Old Men" took the top prize, was expected to underperform given the lack of movies with broad boxoffice appeal vying for best picture. ABC and producers also were unsure whether the Oscars were going forward with a full production until the writers strike was resolved Feb. 12, resulting in last-minute scramble to prepare and market the show.
The strike hurt the awards in another way, too. ABC had fewer scripted hits such as "Grey's Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives" airing original episodes, so there was less of a promotional platform for running Oscar ads. During the week of Feb. 11-17, ABC's average ratings were down 36% versus last season among adults 18-49.
The highest-rated Oscar telecast during the past five years was in 2004, when audience favorite "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" won best picture. The airing was seen by 43.5 million viewers and received a 15.3 rating among adults 18-49. Viewership declined the next two years, then spiked slightly in 2007 when "The Departed" took home the top prize (14.1 rating/33 share and was seen by 40 million viewers).
Critics said the Sunday night production's last-minute turnaround was evident, with the event lacking humorous sketches and overstuffed with dreary clip shows.
The Associated Press said the Oscars "had an underwhelming feel that left the clear impression it was put together on the fly." The Washington Post said, "The show was so overstocked with clips from movies -- from this year's nominees and from Oscar winners going back to 1929 -- that it was like a TV show with the hiccups. While THR noted: "producers failed to notice that the best moments in those endless montages came from memorable acceptance speeches. Instead they were in ... a rush to get winners off the stage."
Host Jon Stewart generally received praise for his performance, with critics saying he significantly improved on his 2006 debut as Oscar emcee.
ABC still managed to dominate Sunday night competition, with its red carpet show coming in second place for the night (6.3 rating) and the Barbara Walters annual Oscar special (3.2),
Distant runner-up Fox aired the Nascar Sprint Cup (3.9/10) and a "Simpsons" repeat (2.6/6).
CBS had "60 Minutes" (1.8/5), an on par "Big Brother" (2.2) and a slightly dipped "Cold Case" repeat (1.8/4). At 10 p.m., CBS aired "Dexter" (2.0/5), which continued to drop.
In fourth, NBC aired a marathon of "Law & Order" franchise repeats (averaging 1.3/3 for the night).
The CW had "CW Now" (0.3/1) and comedy repeats.
ping
Bwah hah hah hah hah...
I thought Stewart was weak. As were the movies this year.
what the hell is an oscar?
Hmm. Guess I missed that.
Oh well.
http://www.variety.com/VR1117981421.html
Oscar ratings fall to all-time low
Telecast nabs smallest audience on record
By RICK KISSELL
In what could hardly be dubbed a surprise, Sunday’s Academy Awards telecast on ABC took a tumble in the ratings, logging the show’s smallest audience on record.
A batch of films with mostly grim themes, combined with an awards season that lacked any real momentum thanks to the writers strike, contributed to this year’s alarming 20% falloff.
Preliminary Nielsen estimates show that an average of 32 million viewers were watching at any given minute during Sunday’s three-hour-plus telecast hosted by Jon Stewart, with viewership peaking around 10 p.m.
While still a huge audience relative to that of most primetime fare, it’s less than one-third the crowd generated by the Super Bowl on Fox earlier this month (97.5 million). It’s also a smaller aud, by comparison, than those drawn to several other National Football League playoff games as well as the premiere episode this season of Fox’s “American Idol.”
Don’t feel too badly for ABC, though, as the net sold most of its ad inventory prior to the start of the writers strike — and made a nice profit by selling its 30-second spots for a whopping $1.8 million each. This year’s ratings perf could hurt next year’s ad sales, however.
Sunday’s audience was down sharply from last year’s 40.17 million and also below the kudocast’s previous low-water mark of 33.04 million in 2003 (a show held just days after the country went to war in Iraq).
This year’s Oscars had its own hurdles to overcome, most notably the four-month writers strike, which cut into preparation time for producers and writers.
ABC didn’t have a lot of momentum heading into Sunday, either, lacking original episodes of its femme magnets “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Desperate Housewives” to promote the kudocast. Also likely a factor was the selection of host, as there wasn’t the curiosity factor that accompanied Stewart’s first Oscar gig two years ago.
And then there were the nominees themselves, mostly little-seen pics and numerous foreign-born thesps, many of whom took home Oscars on Sunday.
The show averaged a 10.7 rating in adults 18-49, down 24% from last year (14.1) and 14% below the previous low of 2003 (12.5).
The top five highest-rated markets were New York (30.6 household rating/44 share), Chicago (29.1/43), San Francisco (27.2/47), West Palm Beach, Fla. (26.1/39), and Los Angeles (25.6/41). A year ago, New York generated a 35.3 rating and Los Angeles a 32.0.
There wasn’t much competition on the other broadcast nets Sunday night, although it wouldn’t be surprising to see ABC’s rivals more aggressively counterprogram the Oscars in future years if its ratings continue to slide.
Fox ran second with a NASCAR race and a repeat of “The Simpsons,” while CBS was down a bit week to week with “Big Brother” (prelim 2.2/5 in 18-49, 5.7 million) and “Dexter” (prelim 2.0/5, 6.5 million). NBC struggled to a 3 share in 18-49 and fewer than 5 million viewers overall with four repeats of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.”
National ratings for all Sunday shows, including ABC’s other Oscar-related programming, will be issued by Nielsen today. In prelims, the “Oscars Red Carpet 2008” spec in the 8 o’clock half-hour leading into the kudocast averaged a 6.3 rating in 18-49 and 21.5 million viewers overall.
The show averaged a 10.7 rating in adults 18-49, down 24% from last year (14.1) and 14% below the previous low of 2003 (12.5).
The top five highest-rated markets were New York (30.6 household rating/44 share), Chicago (29.1/43), San Francisco (27.2/47), West Palm (26.1/39) and Los Angeles (25.6/41). A year ago, New York generated a 35.3 rating, and Los Angeles a 32.0.
There wasn’t much competition on the other broadcast nets Sunday night, although it wouldn’t be surprising to see ABC’s rivals more aggressively counter-program the Oscars in future years if its ratings continue to slide.
Fox ran second with a NASCAR race and a repeat of “The Simpsons,” while CBS repeat was down a bit week to week with “Big Brother” (prelim 2.2/5 in 18-49, 5.7 million) and “Dexter” (prelim 2.0/5, 6.5 million). NBC struggled to a 3 share in 18-49 and less than 5 million viewers overall with four repeats of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.”
National ratings for all Sunday shows, including ABC’s other Oscar-related programming, will be issued by Nielsen today. In prelims, the “Oscar’s Red Carpet 2008” spec in the 8 o’clock half-hour leading into the kudocast averaged a 6.3 rating in 18-49 and 21.5 million viewers overall.
Read the full article at:
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117981421.html
I got no time for the incestuous narcissists of the F.A.G.
Only the really bored would watch this nitwit peogram.
Hollow Wood deserves no viewers. Not many care about their ignorant foolish lives anymore, we hear about them on the daily news. We aren’t impressed with their shallow botox world of awarding each other for little merit.
The day for movie stars ended when they became everyday news. The day the movie mags ended was the day any of them mattered.
Not surprising, most of the people that would watch The Oscars were at the event.
A Bridge to Terabithia was the last movie I saw in a theater. Yes, I have kids. $32 just to get in. Another $20 at the concession stand. No thanks. We have a $1 a day DVD vending machine at the Publix down the street. That’s more like it.
Same here.
Most of the movies I watch are on TCM.
I turned on the awards twice last night, and both times it had a bunch of anti american blame bush nonsense..
Exactly. I’ve never cared, but it keeps getting shoved in my face. I think they are desperate to feel relevant and need to have their self esteem boosted by everybody making a fuss about every stupid aspect of their vapid lives.
ABB I watch off and on between 7 and 8 then I turn to Law and ORder CI and last part of Masterpiece theatre finale of Pride And Prejudice
I am sucker for Jane Austin movies LOL!
ABB I watch off and on between 7 and 8 then I turn to Law and ORder CI and last part of Masterpiece theatre finale of Pride And Prejudice
I am sucker for Jane Austin movies LOL!
I don’r know what they’re talking about. ‘Dexter’ is one of the best and most unique shows that’s come down the pike in a while. I had been watching the second season on Showtime this last fall, and getting to see the first season these last few weeks has been appointment TV for me.
None of the “best picture” nominees grossed that well, so it’s not surprising that hardly anybody cared. The winner “No Country for Old Men”, grossed just $64M, ending #40 for 2007
LMAO
And yet, I am somehow able to sleep at night. Imagine that.
LOL !! That DOES say it all !
No real stars anymore.....
Boring....and self indulgent...
Me too and for some reason IMDB is down.
The Oscars: Where each year, Hollywood breaks its arm patting itself on the back.
If I actually cared (or if I get bored sometime) maybe I'll look her up. But probably not.
“I turned on the awards twice last night, and both times it had a bunch of anti american blame bush nonsense..”
Yet still they can’t seem to even buy a clue ...
Consider also that Marilyn was in her mid-late thirties, and Lohan was 25 when these shoots were done. Who LOOKS younger?
They need to start handing out awards in the bathroom.
Most of what Hollyweird produces deserves to be flushed.
LOL! That's sort of like comparing two automobiles with 100K miles. The question becomes, "well is that road miles or stop-and-go driving?"
Jon Stewart sucked. So typical - make fun of republicans, with cheap shots like age jokes, and politics in general. But of course, no jokes about Obama at all, even the easy ones.
I didn’t see “No Country for Old Men,” but I heard it was another violent movie. What’s amazing is that these violent movies are made by Hollywood people who claim to be pacifists.
Hollywood was always hard, but the celebrities today seem chewed up and spit out while they're in their early twenties.
left skank, right beauty (even if she did scrog jf’nk)
left skank, right beauty (even if she did scrog jf’nk)
“No real stars anymore.....
Boring....and self indulgent...”
And airheads, all.
crap, first double post in 8 years
I did a double post a couple of weeks ago, and I SWEAR I didn’t hit the post key twice.
To be fair, the writer’s strike probably took away some of the interest in the Oscars. Aside from that, I had more interesting things to do last night like give the cat a bath and my arms show the claw marks today to prove it.
Stupid Hollyweird has to keep digging back into the past days and stars of faded glory since their modern works are such awful dreck.
Last trip to a movie theatre was to see a pirate movie.
Linney's 42 films.
You should watch “Enchanted” with your kids. Not kidding. I loved every minute of it. It was like Cinderella meets Grease (or any other musical where people just start singing in the middle of nowhere with full accompaniment by orchestra :-).
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