This year’s Oscars ceremony hit a ratings trough, decreasing by 58 per cent from the 2020 Oscars, which previously held the record for lowest viewership ever.
According to Nielsen’s fast national results, the ceremony had just 9.85 million viewers, the first time viewership has dipped under 10 million. Last year’s viewership was 23.6 million, making it at the time the lowest watched ceremony.
The 2021 Oscars ceremony was broadcast live on American network ABC, as well as online on ABC.com, the ABC app, YouTubeTV and Hulu+Live.
This year’s awards were profoundly affected by the pandemic, which heavily influenced what films were released as well as cinema attendance. Streaming giant Netflix secured seven Oscars, the most of any distributor, doubling its previous number of Oscar wins. Behemoth Disney followed with five Oscars.
This year’s ceremony also had a number of historic moments, as Chloe Zhao became the second ever woman to win Best Director for Nomadland. She is also the first Chinese woman, and the first non-white woman, to win the award. Nomadland also won Best Picture.
Yuh-Jung Youn, who’s role in Minari secured her a Best Supporting Actress win, was the second Asian woman and the first Korean to win the award.
Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson were the first Black winners of the Best Makeup and Hairstyling award for their work on Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. They accepted the award alongside alongside makeup artist Sergio Lopez-Rivera.
Daniel Kaluuya became the first Black British person to win an Oscar for acting for his performance in Judas and the Black Messiah.
The Oscars is not the only award show beset with declining ratings. The Golden Globes hit a 13 year low with only 6.9 million viewers, the Grammys were at an all time low with 9.23 million viewers and last year’s online Emmy’s broadcast had 6.9 million viewers.
