2018 Oscars Least Watched In the History Of Academy Awards — Blame Game In Full Swing Over Low Ratings

The TV audience for the 2018 Academy Awards dropped to 26.5 million viewers, which makes this Oscars presentation the least watched in its televised history. The Oscars hit this all-time low in ratings, which was down 19.5 percent from last year alone. In 2017, 32.9 people tuned into the show to watch the elite of Hollywood collect their Oscars, but what they got instead might have turned a large number of folks away from watching the Academy Awards again this year, according to the many reports today.

The figures on the number of viewers are coming from the respected Nielsen data. Jimmy Kimmel was the host of Sunday night’s Oscar broadcast for his second year in a row. The previous lowest ratings of an Academy Awards show was in 2008 when Jon Stewart was the host. The Los Angeles Times suggests these low ratings may have to do with the number of choices offered on TV in today’s world, citing both the last Super Bowl and the Grammy Awards experiencing a decline in ratings as well.

While the Grammys and the Super Bowl saw a similar decline, they do have something in common with the Oscars that might have also played a factor in a lower number of people tuning in. Viewers might have become “weary” of this year’s awards-show speechifying about the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements exposing and combating sexual harassment in the entertainment industry,” suggests the L.A. Times. The politics and insults disguised as political jokes might have tainted viewers against this venue, which is supposed to be about entertainment.

Breitbart suggests that, “politics and #MeToo” is the reason why the Academy Awards experienced their lowest ratings ever in the history of the televised event. Most media sites are spreading the blame over a variety of entities as to why the Oscars literally tanked in ratings.

Piers Morgan wrote an opinion piece for Daily Mail and his thoughts on how to save the Oscars is to fix what is broken. Or in other words, fix what has caused the ratings to for the Oscars to tank. His 1o-point plan includes making the show shorter, stopping the boring drawn-out speeches, and “ban all politics.”

Morgan suggests to “remove the 10 most boring awards” and “slash the musical performances.” Put less B-list celebs on the stage and bring on more Hollywood icons, Morgan continues. He has a few more ideas to round out his 10-point list.

Vanity Fair reports that not only did the TV ratings drop this year, but social media chatter around the Oscars dropped 28 percent from last year. It seems that people have lost interest in show when it comes to the virtual water cooler chatter as well.

According to Deadline, below are the Oscar ratings since 2001, along with the best picture winner and host of the show for each year.

2018: 26.5 million, The Shape of Water (Jimmy Kimmel)
2017: 32.9 million, Moonlight (Jimmy Kimmel)
2016: 34.4 million, Spotlight (Chris Rock)
2015: 37.3 million, Birdman (Neil Patrick Harris)
2014: 43.7 million, 12 Years a Slave (Ellen DeGeneres)
2013: 40.3 million, Argo (Seth MacFarlane)
2012: 39.3 million, The Artist (Billy Crystal)
2011: 37.9 million, The King’s Speech (Anne Hathaway/James Franco)
2010: 41.3 million, The Hurt Locker (Steve Martin/Alec Baldwin)
2009: 36.3 million, Slumdog Millionaire (Hugh Jackman)
2008: 32.0 million, No Country For Old Men (Jon Stewart)
2007: 40. 2 million, The Departed (Ellen DeGeneres)
2006: 38.9 million, Crash (Jon Stewart)
2005: 42.1 million, Million Dollar Baby (Chris Rock)
2004: 43.5 million, The Lord Of The Rings: The Return of the King (Billy Crystal)
2003: 33.0 million, Chicago (Steve Martin)
2002: 41.8 million, A Beautiful Mind (Whoopi Goldberg)
2001: 42.9 million, Gladiator (Steve Martin)