Oscars Audience Drops 9.8%

A smaller audience watched the Oscars ceremony on Sunday night, reversing two years of growth for the one of television's biggest events.
About 37.6 million people watched the Academy Awards, according to early Nielsen Co. data provided by broadcaster ABC. There were few surprises through the evening, and favored best-picture nominee— "The King's Speech" —picked up the top honor.
The tally was down 9.8% from the 41.7 million who watched a year ago, and ranks as the fifth-least watched ceremony since at least 1974, according to Nielsen.

A receding Oscars audience could add urgency to deliberations within the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences over whether to move the Oscars to as early as January to make its outcome more unpredictable.
Most of the big winners on Sunday night had already been showered with awards at a host of other award shows in the past two months, including Natalie Portman as Best Actress for "Black Swan" and Colin Firth as Best Actor for "The King's Speech." Some analysts at media-buying agencies had said before Sunday night's show that the lack of suspense could undercut the show's appeal.
In a silver lining for ABC, the network owned by Walt Disney Co., the declines were shallower among younger viewers. The rating among people ages 18 to 49 slipped about 4.5% compared to a year ago. Among women between 18 and 34 years old, the Oscars lost only 2% of last year's audience, ABC said.
Organizers had specifically set out to woo a more youthful audience for the graying show, in part by bringing in young actors James Franco, 32, and Anne Hathaway, 28, as cohosts. Last year, the median age for an Oscars viewer topped 50 for the first time in recent history.
"You look very appealing to a younger demographic," Ms. Hathaway said to Mr. Franco near the top of the telecast.

Source: WSJ.com