Just a few years after the Oscars’ genesis came the inevitable first in a nearly century-long history of public scandals and controversies. Dudley Nichols’ declination of his Oscar as an act of solidarity with the Writers Guild, which was on strike at the time, set the trend for future honorees to utilize the show as a platform for expressing political and social ideas. To this day, the ceremony receives considerable condescension for this reason.
Not all of the ceremony’s controversies were so meaningful, however. In 1974, a streaker interrupted the ceremony by running naked across the stage. In 2000, Angelina Jolie famously kissed her brother (on the lips!) on the red carpet before, in her winning speech for Best Supporting Actress, she declared—or rather, confessed— “I am so in love with my brother right now.”
Public nudity (and incest?) are some of the more extreme examples. What about some harmless mixups? Guaranteed, we all remember 2017, too. La La Land was announced for Best Picture when Moonlight actually won. And, of course, now, the “Will Smith b*tch slap.”
It is a truth universally acknowledged that the American public loves scandal. So why has the Oscars’ viewership plummeted? What explains the record low in viewership in 2021? And the second-lowest in 2022?
Oscars reception, via viewership and ratings, has been, well, abysmal. From 2020 to 2021, viewership dropped a whopping 56 percent. Ratings were just as bleak at 2.9 for viewers ages 18-49. Interestingly, this year’s Oscars saw a 50 percent increase in viewership from 2021 and a 3.2 rating but failed to restore the ceremony to its prior status.
Numerous hypotheses have arisen as a result of this bizarre phenomenon.
Vulture suggests “folks who otherwise might’ve headed to bed cho[se] to stick around to see whether Smith’s attack would be addressed on air.” Collider counters that the ratings at the 2022 Oscars peaked about an hour before the moment, so it couldn’t have been the cause for the increase in viewership.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic (and its accompanying decrease in movie theater attendance), restrictions may have contributed to the record low in 2021. This would also explain the increase in viewership this year, as restrictions ease and interest in movies reignites.
Many point to streaming services as a cause for the decline, as viewership doesn’t account for those. Many young viewers no longer use cable and would prefer not to sit through 16-20 minutes of commercials per hour of showtime.
Viewership also fails to cover the Gen Z-ers who simply searched up “Will Smith slap” on YouTube and saw all they needed to see. Not to mention the five billion views under the hashtag #oscars on TikTok.
Perhaps the Oscars viewership is simply another inscrutable phenomenon like just about everything else since 2020.