The number of viewers watching the Academy Awards, the biggest festival in the U.S. film industry, on live television has fallen by about 70% compared with its dazzling heyday two decades ago. As the era when an Oscar trophy served as a guarantee of box-office success has faded, even the prestige of being the world's most authoritative awards is being shaken.
On the 18th, local time, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which hosts the Academy Awards, said viewership for the 98th Academy Awards held on the 15th was tallied at 17.9 million. That is down 9.1% from last year's 19.7 million.
A look at the long-term ratings trend makes clearer how severe the crisis facing the Academy Awards is. In 1998, when master director James Cameron took best picture with the film Titanic, television viewership for the ceremony hit 57 million. As public interest slowly ebbed, it fell to 43.7 million in 2014 and, in 2018, dipped below 30 million for the first time at 26.5 million. In 2021, during the global COVID-19 pandemic, it plunged to 10.4 million, the lowest on record. In 20 years, nearly 70% of total viewers have vanished, tracing an unbroken downward slope.
This year's event proceeded calmly, without jokes that could cause on-air mishaps or controversy as in the past. There were no upsets in the results. One Battle After Another, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, won six trophies, including best picture, the top honor. The film Sinus also took home four trophies. The outcomes largely stayed within the forecasts issued in unison by various specialist prediction outlets just before the ceremony.
Hollywood industry experts said predictable winners and a flat atmosphere drove viewers away. Movie fans do not wait in front of their TVs just to see who takes the trophies. Instead, they respond to the taut tension among stars on stage, unexpected incidents, bite-sized talking points consumable as memes online, or fresh acceptance speeches.
In the golden years of past Academy Awards, it was hard to predict the results until the envelope was opened that day. Recently, however, little has emerged beyond simple result confirmation. Some have described the Oscars as a ceremonial stop to finalize award trends that harden through the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG) and the British Academy (BAFTA) starting early in the year.
The sharp ideological divides and political fatigue spreading through American society are also cited as major reasons the public is drifting away from Hollywood. The Academy Awards have long served faithfully as a key platform where Hollywood stars with massive influence speak out boldly on issues such as minorities, the environment and political beliefs. Their hard-line political remarks or surprise actions on stage splashed across front pages and temporarily boosted ratings.
But conservative-leaning viewers, who see the ceremony as an uncomfortable venue for political propaganda, left in droves as that tendency deepened. Members of the public also switched channels, saying the show felt dull when it proceeded peacefully as it did this year. Conversely, when controversy crossed a line, a vicious cycle persisted in which viewers harbored strong resentment and outright boycotted the ceremony and related companies.
The diversification of viewing platforms is also cited as a key factor dismantling the Academy's traditional authority. As global streaming services such as Netflix and YouTube have seeped deeply into daily life, people no longer put up with the hassle of gathering at a set time in front of the TV to watch a long ceremony as in the past. They instead pick and choose only highlight videos of their favorite actors or short, punchy award moments posted on social media.
Luke Howard, a professor at Boston University, said, "As social media has begun to drive public opinion, more consumers are strongly rejecting a model in which a prestigious, large institution unilaterally assigns value," adding, "These shifts of the times are driving a ratings decline across awards shows."