标题: Once upon a time [打印本页] 作者: Goldmine 时间: 2009-2-22 22:16 标题: Once upon a time
Once upon a time
There was a time when Oscar's share of TV households reached more than80%, back in the early 1950s when the awards first were telecast. Itsshare remained mostly in the 70s throughout the latter part of thatdecade and into the 1960s. Since then, Oscar ratings have declinedgradually.
However, while audience share has declined, the overall audience hasgrown. So the 1998 "Titanic" Oscars represent the high-water mark inoverall audience size, with 55.2 million estimated viewers. In thisdecade, another box-office smash, "Lord of the Rings: Return of theKing" helped Oscar to its highest rating of the 2000s, with 43.5million viewers.
Analyst Dergarabedian says while this year's films have low box-officeappeal, there may be some mitigating factors that could help ratings.
The late Heath Ledger is expected to win the best supporting actorprize for his turn as the Joker in "The Dark Knight." It was thoughtLedger's performance went far to help the film's box-office appeal.
Plus, tabloid darlings and domestic partners Brad Pitt and AngelinaJolie are both nominated in the lead acting categories, which couldspark more interest, Dergarabedian says. And actor Mickey Rourke'scareer resurgence to best actor front-runner status in FoxSearchlight's "The Wrestler," may capture some interest.
But critic Strauss says the academy, which usually picks films thathover between public and critical tastes, seems to have gone off thereservation this year.
