Why ABC shouldn't be too worried about the worst-ever Oscar ratings

Vulture

Sure, the Oscar ratings freefall looks bad, particularly with early numbers predicting that viewership will fall below 30 million for the first time ever. But ABC should come out of this year's ceremony okay. "While ratings for Sunday night’s show will prompt a flurry of negative headlines, odds are they won’t make a huge difference to ABC’s bottom line," says Josef Adalian. "Consider: Even though the 2017 Academy Awards scored the second-smallest audience ever, the Alphabet network was able to charge about 10 percent more for ad time on this year’s show, according to reports in multiple TV-industry trades." As Adalian notes, ratings are down across television, so the lower Oscar ratings are part of a broad trend. "Why are advertisers paying more for fewer eyeballs?" asks Adalian. "Simple: With TV ratings down across the board — even the Super Bowl stumbled this year — it’s harder than ever to reach really big audiences all at once." He also points out that the Oscars are still a great way for ABC to promote its TV shows. "Even if only one or two of the new shows hyped last night get a boost from the Oscars advertising, it’ll be a big win for ABC," he says.

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