Steven Prusakowski
One of the things poured over in the immediate aftermath of the Academy Awards, aside from the winners and losers, are the ratings. Were viewers tuned in to the ceremony? Did they care what Oscar went to whom? Well, apparently this year, they did. Not only did Sunday night bring back a sense of normalcy to the Oscars, it apparently brought back audiences as well, with viewership hitting a three year high.
According to Variety, 18.7 million viewers tuned in, making for an increase of 12% from last year. Now, that’s not back to the height of Oscar viewership, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction. Hopefully things continue to move upwards next year, as well as in the years to come.
Source: Variety
Unfortunately, the… let’s just say “slower-witted” among awards pundits will insist that this is because popular movies like Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way of Water were nominated for Best Picture (forgetting about Dune from last year) and totally ignore how several of the major categories this time around weren’t foregone conclusions heading into the ceremony.
That uncertainty definitely plays a bit into it…