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Oscars hits an all-time LOW: Only 9.85million viewers tuned in to Academy Awards - down 58% on last year as three-hour long 'wokefest' gets panned

  The number of people who tuned in to watch the three-hour long 'wokefest' that was the  Oscars  hit an all time low with just 9.85...

 The number of people who tuned in to watch the three-hour long 'wokefest' that was the Oscars hit an all time low with just 9.85 million viewers. 

The television ratings for the 93rd Academy Awards on Sunday night is a 58 percent drop compared to last year's already record-low 23.64 million viewers, according to early Nielsen numbers. 

The huge drop in ratings for Hollywood's biggest night continues an overall multi-year downward trend for the Academy Awards, which were above 43 million as recently as 2014. 


It comes after the Grammys, Golden Globes and SAG Awards all experienced more than 50 percent declines in viewership this year as well.    

The number of people who tuned in to watch the 93rd Academy Awards on Sunday night was at an all-time low of 9.85 million viewers. It is a 58 percent drop compared to last year's already record-low 23.64 million viewers

The number of people who tuned in to watch the 93rd Academy Awards on Sunday night was at an all-time low of 9.85 million viewers. It is a 58 percent drop compared to last year's already record-low 23.64 million viewers 

The number of people who tuned into watch the Oscars last night has hit an all-time low with just 9.85 million viewers. Pictured above in Regina King presenting the Oscar for Original Screenplay

The number of people who tuned into watch the Oscars last night has hit an all-time low with just 9.85 million viewers. Pictured above in Regina King presenting the Oscar for Original Screenplay

Regina King references Chauvin conviction in Oscars opener
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The Oscars broadcast, which aired on ABC, had a small in-person attendance amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This year's ceremony was moved from a Hollywood theater to a glammed-up Los Angeles train station to abide by strict pandemic protocols

The Oscars broadcast, which aired on ABC, had a small in-person attendance amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This year's ceremony was moved from a Hollywood theater to a glammed-up Los Angeles train station to abide by strict pandemic protocols 

According to the latest figures available on Nielsen, CBS' NCIS show would have attracted more viewer than the Oscars. NCIS attracted 10.2 million viewers based on data the week ending April 5. 

Film fans already had blasted this year's ceremony as the 'wokest ever' after a string of virtue-signaling speeches by stars before Anthony Hopkins was attacked for winning the best actor award above Chadwick Boseman.  

Award host Regina King had kicked off the night by hailing the conviction of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd, director Travon Free showed off a jacket emblazoned with the names of black people killed by police and Mia Neal then spoke about 'breaking the glass ceiling' for trans and minority ethnic people in her acceptance speech for best hair and makeup. 

With movie theaters shut for most of the year amid the COVID-19 pandemic and several blockbuster films starring big-name actors postponed, a less familiar crop of nominees was competing.

Chloe Zhao's 'Nomadland' was the big winner with the director becoming the second woman and first woman of color to take home the best picture prize.

The Oscars broadcast, which aired on ABC, had a small in-person crowd - just 170 - amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This year's ceremony was moved from a Hollywood theater to a glammed-up Los Angeles train station to abide by strict pandemic protocols.  

After years of criticism over racial diversity, Zhao became the first Asian woman and only the second woman ever to win best director for Nomadland, British actor Daniel Kaluuya won best supporting actor for Judas and the Black Messiah and 73-year-old South Korean Youn Yuh-jung won best supporting actress for Minari.  

The Best Picture winner Nomadland grossed just $2.5 million. Pictured: Producer Peter Spears, Frances McDormand, director Chloe Zao, Mollye Asher and Dan Janvey

The Best Picture winner Nomadland grossed just $2.5 million. Pictured: Producer Peter Spears, Frances McDormand, director Chloe Zao, Mollye Asher and Dan Janvey

Boseman - who died of colon cancer aged 43 last August - was widely tipped to win a posthumous award for his role in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Sunday night's Oscars - widely condemned as the most boring in history - ended with further upset after Anthony Hopkins beat Chadwick Boseman to win Best Actor. Hopkins is pictured in The Father

Sunday night's Oscars - widely condemned as the most boring in history - ended with further upset after Anthony Hopkins beat Chadwick Boseman to win Best Actor 

Many then assumed the night would end with a posthumous award for Chadwick Boseman given the organizers decided to make it the last category even though it typically ends with best picture. 

Anthony Hopkins, however, unexpectedly won the best actor category.

Despite breaking the record for oldest best actor winner at 83 for his portrayal of a man with dementia in The Father, it prompted fury among viewers who declared he had 'stolen' it.

'Chadwick Boseman was robbed,' one furious viewer tweeted, before another added: 'The Oscars have proven once again that they have no idea what they’re doing.' 

Hopkins' lack of an acceptance speech at the show's grand finale was also criticized by many viewers as anti-climactic.

'At 83 years of age, I did not expect to get this award, I really didn't,' Hopkins said in video posted to his Instagram page from Wales on Monday morning.

'I want to pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman who was taken from us far too early,' he added, referring to the late 'Black Panther' star who had been expected to win best actor for his final role in 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.'   

Director Travon Free turned his Oscars acceptance speech into a condemnation of police killings during the 93rd Academy Awards on Sunday night. Earlier, as he walked the red carpet, Free also made a political statement, showing off the inside of his jacket which was emblazoned with the names of black people killed by police, including Philando Castile, Tamir Rice, Rayshard Brooks and Daunte Wright

Director Travon Free turned his Oscars acceptance speech into a condemnation of police killings during the 93rd Academy Awards on Sunday night. Earlier, as he walked the red carpet, Free also made a political statement, showing off the inside of his jacket which was emblazoned with the names of black people killed by police, including Philando Castile, Tamir Rice, Rayshard Brooks and Daunte Wright

Actor Daniel Kaluuya, who won best supporting actor for Judas and the Black Messiah, poses alongside musicians Dernst Emile II, H.E.R., and Tiara Thomas who won the Oscar for best original song which featured in the film

Actor Daniel Kaluuya, who won best supporting actor for Judas and the Black Messiah, poses alongside musicians Dernst Emile II, H.E.R., and Tiara Thomas who won the Oscar for best original song which featured in the film

King set the tone for the evening early on by speaking about the Derek Chauvin verdict. 

The 50-year-old said: 'It has been quite a year, and we are still smack dab in the middle of it. We are mourning the loss of so many.

'And I have to be honest, if things had gone differently this past week in Minneapolis, I may have traded in my heels for marching boots.

'Now, I know that a lot of you people at home want to reach for your remote when you feel like Hollywood is preaching to you. But as a mother of a black son, I know the fear that so many live with, and no amount of fame or fortune changes. That okay?' 

Meanwhile, Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal, and Jamika Wilson also spoke about identity politics as they accepted the award for Oscar for Best Hair and Makeup.  

Neal and Wilson are the first two black women to win the award, with Neal speaking out about breaking barriers as she took to the podium.   

Stars of the film Minari, including Oscar winner Youn Yuh-jung, relax after the award ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday

Stars of the film Minari, including Oscar winner Youn Yuh-jung, relax after the award ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday

Mia Neal, Sergio Lopez-Rivera, and Jamika Wilson, winners of the Makeup and Hairstyling award for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom share a moment of emotion backstage at the Oscars

Mia Neal, Sergio Lopez-Rivera, and Jamika Wilson, winners of the Makeup and Hairstyling award for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom share a moment of emotion backstage at the Oscars

Reese Witherspoon poses backstage during the Oscars ceremony at Union Station in Los Angeles on Sunday night

Reese Witherspoon poses backstage during the Oscars ceremony at Union Station in Los Angeles on Sunday night

'I want to say thank you to our ancestors who put the work in. Who were denied but never gave up. And I also stand here, as we break this glass ceiling with so much excitement for the future,' she stated to cheers from the crowd. 

'Because I can picture black trans women standing up here, Asian and Latina sisters, and indigenous women. And it won't be unusual or groundbreaking one day, it will just be normal'. 

Director Travon Free turned his Oscars acceptance speech into a condemnation of police killings.  

The 35-year-old won Best Live Action Short along with co-director Martin Desmond Roe for their drama Two Distant Strangers - a 29-minute movie that examines the deaths of black Americans during encounters with police.

'Today, the police will kill three people,' Free stated as he took to the stage to accept his award. 'Tomorrow, the police will kill three people. And the day after that, the police will kill three people. Because on average, the police in America every day kill three people. Which amounts to about 1,000 people a year. '

He continued: 'Those people happen to be disproportionately black people. I just ask that you please not be indifferent. Please don't be indifferent to our pain.

Earlier, as he walked the red carpet, Free also made a political statement, showing off the inside of his jacket which was emblazoned with the names of black people killed by police, including Philando Castile, Tamir Rice, Rayshard Brooks and Daunte Wright.    


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