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February 26, 2008
Oscars Bomb on TV
Dont't expect Jon Stewart to be back as host of the Oscars. The audience tuned out of the deadly dull Oscarcast in droves, resulting in the worst ratings in history, a 20 percent drop from last year, when Ellen DeGeneres hosted. With an estimated 32 million viewers, the smug Stewart beat the record he previously set for the least-watched Oscarcast, back in 2003. Of course, the little-seen Best nominees didn't help, nor did a show that was slapped together in a week after the end of the writers' strike. But there was no writers strike back in 2003, when the show managed just a million more viewers.Posted by Lou Lumenick on February 26, 2008 08:43 AM
Comments
Wasn't Steve Martin the host in 2003?
Posted by: Kyle on February 26, 2008 07:57 PM
Lou, reality check please. Biggest reason the audience tuned out was because they didn't see the films, nor did they recognize the actors. Let's take a poll and find out if Middle America can even pronounce Javier Bardem (cue Regis!) or Marion Cotillard. Could they pick Tilda Swinton out of a line-up? DeGeneres does connect with the minivan crowd, and that crowd wants to see old-fashioned Hollywood (aka American) stars - Roberts, Pitt, et al. Stewart is too cerebral.... but that's not why they didn't watch.
Posted by: shaz on February 26, 2008 06:54 PM