Oscar ratings

My earlier post about the Oscar ratings and audience delivery did not play out.

I suggested a couple of days ago that the viewership of the Oscars might fall to the 25-30 million mark, down from last year's low of 32 million. The overnight ratings indicate that last night's viewership was actually up about 6% to an audience of approximately 34 million.

This still is dwarfed by ratings and viewership in 1998 when 57 million tuned in, and the nominated movies included favorites like Titanic (the eventual winner), L.A. Confidential and Good Will Hunting.

Perhaps this year only proved that people were curious about Slumdog Millionaire and whether Heath Ledger would win a posthumous Oscar. Or, maybe the promise of a revitalized ceremony, plus having Hugh Jackman as host, did actually make viewership grow.

All in all, it was a good show although devoid of much drama. The Kodak Theater looked great, Jackman did a good job with a hard role and the red carpet once again was filled with beautiful people...but also its share of "glamour don'ts."