Hollywood is now 0-3 in the world of major league awards shows.

Following in the footsteps of both The Golden Globes and Grammy Awards, ratings for Sunday night's 77th Annual Academy Awards were down this year.

Some 41.5 million viewers on average watched ABC's Oscar telecast this year, a 5 percent drop from 2004, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Oscar producers had high hopes that the comedian Chris Rock would, as the Oscar host, have a broad enough appeal to boost ratings. Based on the results, "I don't think (veteran Oscar hosts) Billy Crystal and Steve Martin have anything to fear," said Brad Adgate, the senior vice president of corporate research at Horizon Media, a New York marketing firm.

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Posted by Lawren at March 1, 2005 06:37 AM

You Said

Its so interesting: everyone wants to blame Chris Rock for the ratings going down, but the "coveted" 18-34 demographic (the one the advertisers advertise to) was up. Why isn't that mentioned right alongside the (uber)coverage about the overall ratings? Hmmmm...

Says: Robin at March 1, 2005 07:57 AM

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Could it simply be that no one really cares anymore? The entertainment industry is the most self-congradulatory thing I've ever seen. Cut the awards shows in half and maybe I'll care enough to watch.

Says: Brian D. at March 1, 2005 08:26 AM

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As if 41.5 million people is not that many . . .

Says: Iceman at March 1, 2005 01:04 PM

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