A record-low audience of 23.6 million viewers turned in on Sunday night (February 9th) to watch the Oscars, with Nielsen reporting that was down 20 percent from one year ago. The previous low had been 26.5 million people in 2018.
Founder Tom O’Neil of the website Goldderby.com, which is devoted to awards show news, told ABC News of Sunday’s show, “It was too predictable, too white and too boring.” He also said that the actors who won the best actor, actress, supporting actor and supporting actress prizes had all swept in the previous awards during awards season, so there wasn’t much surprise, and that the only suspense was for best picture — which went to Parasite over 1917 — but most viewers hadn’t seen either, so they, quote, “weren’t emotionally invested.”
Other possible contributors to low viewership were that for a second year in a row the Oscars didn’t have a host, and that they were held earlier in the year than usual, which may have prevented buzz from building for the show.
