Staff Reports
Americans tuned out the Oscars in droves this year, and the numbers tell the story: the 98th Academy Awards averaged just 17.86 million viewers — a nine percent drop from last year and the smallest audience since 2022. That collapse is not an accident; it is the predictable result of Hollywood turning its awards show into a platform for preaching at the very people who used to make the industry profitable.
For decades the Oscars were a national event that united movie lovers across the country. Today, too many of the speeches and segments feel like political triage instead of a celebration of craft, and hardworking Americans respond by changing the channel. You can’t lecture the audience about politics, then act surprised when those viewers stay away — the Academy keeps alienating the mainstream and then wonders why ratings fall.
The Academy’s distribution choices aren’t helping. This year’s telecast was split between ABC and streaming on Hulu, a move that fragments the audience and makes it harder for casual viewers to find the show. Fans who want a simple, free way to watch were pushed into subscription options or buried in streaming apps, and viewers who value convenience voted with the remote.
Running nearly four hours, the ceremony felt bloated and indulgent while commercials ate into the momentum, turning a once-eventful night into a slog. When speeches are trimmed or cut to squeeze in more bits and more ads, you stop feeling like the evening is about honoring artists and start feeling like you’re watching a marketing carnival. Viewers who want to see who wins and hear a few sincere words are deserting the broadcast in favor of clips and highlights online.
What makes the ratings slide galling is that this year’s Oscars weren’t short on headline-grabbing films; one movie led the field with a record number of nominations and big studio contenders still dominated the night. Even with heavy Oscars attention for those films, the show failed to translate prestige into mass audiences — proof that prestige alone can’t paper over cultural tone-deafness. The Academy gave itself reasons to cover the event; it simply offered viewers fewer reasons to watch.
Here’s the plain truth: if the Oscars want those audiences back, the Academy must stop politicizing every moment, shorten the runtime, make the program easy to find and watch, and return to celebrating filmmaking in a way that respects ordinary Americans. The show can be glamorous without becoming a lecture hall, and until Hollywood remembers that, the ratings will keep sliding. American families deserve entertainment, not sermons — and the Oscars would do well to remember who pays the bills.
