We knew this was going to be bad. Last night’s Oscars were always going to be a ratings bust.
Last year’s Oscars hit an all time low of 23.6 million. That was after hitting a high of 43.7 million in 2014. But after that it was all downhill.
Last night’s early numbers indicate 10 million people watched the show, which is just about right. The movies featured didn’t have big audiences, the pandemic was a setback. The 2021 Oscars are an aberration. Next year, things will be up.
No one wanted to give the Oscars producers any slack even with the pandemic. And no one takes into account that this was the only awards show that actually came off live, with people in the same place. I think Steven Soderbergh, Jesse Collins, and Stacey Sher deserve a lot of credit for making it happen at all.
But these numbers will have the snarkers calling for changes again.
