The 2017 Oscars Viewership and Ratings Drop to Nine-Year low

The 2017 Oscars award show premiered on ABC Sunday, Feb. 26, and it drew relatively poor ratings compared to previous years. That’s unfortunate because other award shows such as the S.A.G Awards, Golden Globes, and the Grammy’s have had increases in their ratings this year. According to The Hollywood Reporter, early numbers show the Sunday’s broadcast averaged 32.9 million viewers with 22.4 ratings among metered marketing households. These numbers are down four percent from last year’s 34.4 million viewers and 23.4 ratings. The 2017 Oscars were marked as the third-lowest rated of the award show since 1974.

The Oscars low ratings and views could have been due to several different factors. Top movie nominations such as such as Moonlight and La La Land made less money at the box office compared to previous year movie nominations. This meant many viewers had not yet seen the films nominated. Some viewers may not have been very fond of Kimmel’s political jokes toward President Trump. Also, the 2017 Oscars was three hours and 49 minutes, the longest the Oscars has been in ten years. It’s pretty likely due to the ceremonies length some viewers probably tuned out before the end of the ceremony. That is unfortunate because depending on the time viewers tuned out, they missed seeing some pretty entertaining and heartfelt moments live. For those that did not tune in, here’s a list of what you missed:

Justin Timberlake Opening the Show

Justin Timberlake started the ceremony by performing the Oscar-nominated “Can’t Stop The Feeling” from the animated movie Trolls. He began performing for the audience, but made the performance more personal by going into the audience and dancing with his wife.

Jimmy Kimmel gets political

Kimmel brings up President Trump by amusingly saying, “I want to say thank you to President Trump; remember last year when it seemed like the Oscars were racist. That’s gone. Thanks to him.” He then (on a serious note) explains that in order to make America great again, Americans need to reach out to people they disagree with and to have positive conversations because making America great starts with Americans.

Meryl Streep Gets Standing Ovation Due to a President Trump tweet

Kimmel calls Streep out for her films and jokingly tells the crowd to give her an undeserved round of applause. The president tweeted that the actress was “one of the most overrated actresses in Hollywood” after she used her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes to speak against Trump for imitating a disabled reporter. In response to President Trump’s tweet Kimmel tweets back “#Merylsayshi.”

Former research scientist from NASA makes an appearance

Katherine Johnson, one of the real women who inspired Hidden Figures, makes an appearance at the Oscars. The 98-year-old was played by Taraji P. Henson, and Johnson was invited on stage with the film cast; Johnson and the cast received a standing ovation.

Viola Davis has the crowd in tears

Davis won her first Academy Award for her role in Fences. Her touching speech brought the audience to tears. A piece of her speech said, “I became an artist, and thank God I did, because we are the only profession that celebrates what it means to live a life,” she said.

It rained candy

Jimmy Kimmel made bags of candy fall out of the sky at the award ceremony.

Denzel Washington Officiates Wedding

An engaged couple on a bus tour got an unexpected surprise when the tour led them inside the Dolby Theatre. The couple is a big fan of Denzel Washington and he took it among himself to officiate an impromptu wedding.

Memoriam Photo Mistake

Australian producer Jan Chapman’s photo was used in the Memoriam segment instead of the actual deceased Janet Patterson. Since the Oscars, the mistake has been acknowledged.

Oscars 2017 Best Picture Mix-up

Betty Dunaway was handed the wrong envelope for the Best Picture Award and announced the winner to be the film La La land. The film’s cast and crew gathered on stage, but in the middle of Fred Berger’s speech, the mistake was realized. Another producer then took the mic and announced the film Moonlight as the winner.