TV Ratings: Oscars audience rises with Billy Crystal, 'The Artist'
Was The Uggie Effect responsible for preventing a dire failure?
"The Artist" star Uggie
Credit: AP
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The record lows that pundits were expecting for the 84th Academy Awards appear not to have materialized, as the Billy Crystal-hosted telecast rose from last year, at least in total viewers.
According to Fast National ratings, the Oscars telecast averaged 39.3 million viewers and an 11.7 rating among adults 18-49 on Sunday (February 26) night.
The overall audience represented a bump of 1.4 million viewers over last year's show. In fact, this ended up being the second biggest Oscars audience since 2007, which isn't necessarily a huge achievement unless you remember the doomsday prediction for ratings based upon the middling box office for many of the nominated films.
Instead of plummeting, the Oscars remained flat from last year in the 18-49 demographic and rose very slightly among women 18-49, with a 14.1 rating.
As expected, the Oscars came in just under CBS' Grammys telecast two weeks earlier, which averaged 39.9 million viewers and a 14.1 rating among adults 18-49. That show was boosted by wildly popular winners like Adele and by the tragic death of Whitney Houston the day before.
The Oscars sent all remaining network Sunday programs to low numbers. CBS' "The Amazing Race" drew only 7.595 million viewers and a 2.1 rating among adults 18-49. NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice" took an even bigger drop, doing 4.68 million viewers and a 1.6 key demo rating for its first hour and rising slightly to 5.31 million and a 1.9 key demo rating in the 10 p.m. hour.
A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.
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February 27, 2012 at 5:00PM EST Reply to CommentRatings have nothing to do with the nominated movies, and everything to do with the host. TV audiences wanted to see Billy Crystal again, just like they wanted to when he hosted the years Titanic and Lord of the Rings won.
After this year however, the Crytstal magic may have worn off.
Brendan Noel If I'm not mistaken, the highest rated Oscar telecast ever was the year Titanic was nominated. So I'd say it has something to do with the nominated movies. Similarly, there was a big jump between 2009 and 2010 because a lot more people saw Avatar than Slumdog Millionaire.
February 27, 2012 at 6:42PM ESTbriguyx
February 27, 2012 at 5:07PM EST Reply to CommentI'd be interested in how the NBA All Star Game did against the Oscars. It might have siphoned off the male audience a bit.