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| The drop in 2019 and 2020 was due to the Covid impact |
In 1998, over 55 million tuned in to watch the Oscars; this year, fewer than 18 million worldwide. The 2026 viewership was down 9% from last year.
In a world of media dominated by YouTube, podcasts, and content streamers, the Oscars have lost the one thing that matters - eyeballs. The Academy has lost relevance and credibility, but Hollywood doesn't seem to recognize this.
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| The Oscar is tarnished, and there's no fixing it |
Bias, by the Academy, has existed for decades. Films that should have earned Best Picture have not. The Exorcist losing to The Sting, Saving Private Ryan to Shakespeare in Love, come to mind. Great Directors have also been shunned: Alred Hickcock, Stanley Kubrick, George Lucas, and Quentin Tarrantio never won Oscars. Additionally, there has been bias against certain genres: comedy, adventure, sci-fi, and horror, which are systematically rejected. Yet these are the films that support the cinema industry - they're not called tent-poles for the hell of it.
Moviegoers have discovered that the Oscars do not reflect the best of the cinema, and when politics entered the show, its relevance vanished. Coupled with mediocre show productions and nominations skewed toward message movies, which may have merit but don't generate admissions. At the box office, the heavy lifting is left to animation and superhero franchises.
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| A great industry concept that lost its fan base. |
Another problem for the Oscars is the hosting. Past hosts had industry cred. Bob Hope, Johnny Carson, Billy Crystal, and Kevin Hart gave way to Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Rock, and Jimmy Kimmel. Conan O'Brien, the current host, tries hard but can't overcome the lackluster production and opinionated acceptance speeches.
To its credit, the Oscars outperforms the Golden Globes and Grammys. The Grammys had 14 million viewers this year, down about one million viewers from last year, while the Golden Globes saw 8.7 million views down 7% from 2025.
I don't think there's anything that can be done to salvage the Oscars from further decline. Hollywood lives in a bubble. It's a members-only club that views the cinema differently from moviegoers - they just don't get it.
















































