Lowest Ratings Ever for Oscar Broadcast

LOS ANGELES, February 26:
The Academy Awards broadcast on ABC on Sunday night attracted an average of 32
million viewers; the lowest on record since Nielsen Media Research began
compiling the data in 1974.

The three-hour-long event,
hosted by Jon Stewart, had an 18.7 household rating and a 29 share, reports
indicate, down from the 23.6 rating and 37 share nabbed last year. The lack of
blockbuster hits in this year’s crop of nominated movies—the biggest
revenue earner of the bunch was Juno—is the likely reason for the lackluster Oscar ratings this
year. The night’s big winner, No Country for Old Men, has secured $64.2 million in box-office receipts
in the U.S.

—By Mansha Daswani