The Oscar hangover has passed and it’s time to look at the wreck. Or what is the same, audiences that, although they improve those of last year, continue to pale compared to those of years ago. In total, almost 19 million viewers in the United States (18.7 to be exact) connected with Kimmel, 12% more than in 2022. And the reasons must be sought beyond Will Smith’s smack.
And the public goes to…
Perhaps the gala would have reached the psychological barrier of twenty million if it weren’t for the fact that it faced the end of ‘The last of us’, which scratched viewers eager for apocalyptic drama. But the truth is that the choice of films was stronger than last year (‘Everything at once everywhere’ is vastly more popular than ‘CODA’) and Jimmy Kimmel is always moderately well liked: It’s like the anti-slap, you know it’s going to be predictable in a good way.
Let us remember that in 2021, with the pandemic still upon us, the strange gala created by Steven Soderbergh was followed by only 10.5 million, a record low. The return to normality, even in a scenario of decreasing viewers of linear television, has resulted in this relative victory for some Oscars that maybe they should settle instead of making inventions out of soda.
Perhaps the solution to become relevant again, in addition to rewarding the actors most loved by the public (Brendan Fraser, Ke Huy Quan, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michelle Yeoh) It goes through allowing the broadcast on Twitch, where not a few commented on the ceremony without images before their audience. Before new times, new measures. It must be borne in mind that in a television world in which the Emmys hit rock bottom, falling below six million viewers, the Grammys are happy to go over 12.5 and the Tonys stayed at just over 3, getting almost 19 millions is a resounding success for an audience that is less and less interested in the star system, awards and cinema in general. We will see in 2024 if everything was a mirage caused by the blow or the gala has a future without the need to introduce major changes.