Oscars viewership hits record low

Without a host or a great deal of pizzazz, ABC’s telecast of the Academy Awards reached its smallest audience ever of 23.6 million viewers. The Nielsen company said Sunday night’s audience was down 20 per cent from a year ago. The previous low-water mark for the Oscars was the 26.5 million people who watched in 2018. In Canada, CTV says the broadcast attracted an average of 4.6 million viewers. That’s down from last year, when five million people tuned in. The Oscars were held sooner in the year than usual, and that may have prevented the show from building buzz.