星期天的第90屆奧斯卡頒獎典禮電視直播持續近4小時，最終投票選出的獲獎者幾乎沒有任何懸念。不過這一晚上最沒有懸念的，就是這場好萊塢星光熠熠的頒獎禮延續了多年來收視率走下坡的趨勢。

媒體評估服務公司尼爾森的初期數據顯示，2018年的奧斯卡收視率可能是有史以來最低的一次。根據尼爾森公布的信息，上周日奧斯卡頒獎典禮直播的家庭隔夜收視率為18.9 %，與去年電視直播的22.4%相比下降16%。（尼爾森的家庭收視率數據測算的是公司計量市場中收看特定節目或事件的家庭。）

去年的奧斯卡頒獎典禮吸引了大約3,290萬電視觀眾，這是自2008年喜劇演員喬恩·斯圖爾特主持以來人數最少的一次。2008年的觀眾人數為3,180萬。據報道，盡管昨晚的頒獎典禮收視率可能大幅下滑，觀眾人數或許低于2,900萬，但2008年的奧斯卡頒獎典禮收視率仍是歷史最低。

奧斯卡頒獎典禮由美國廣播公司負責轉播，該公司旗下的深夜脫口秀主持人吉米·基梅爾在過去兩年連續主持奧斯卡頒獎典禮。2017年典禮接近尾聲時，發生了最佳影片的信封烏龍事件，受到廣泛爭議。從不受歡迎的主持人，到過于冗長的電視直播，再到入圍者的左傾言論，這些都被認為是頒獎禮收視率走低的因素。

2018年奧斯卡收視率繼續下滑的其中一個原因在于，今年的最佳影片提名中票房大片數量微乎其微。該項提名中票房收入最高的當屬場面激烈的二戰電影《敦刻爾克》（Dunkirk，全球5.25億美元票房），它在主要獎項上成績不佳，最終獲得了奧斯卡最佳電影剪輯、最佳音效剪輯、最佳混音效果三個獎項。主要候選影片中票房收入第二高的是贏得2.55億美元票房的《逃出絕命鎮》（Get Out），該片為導演兼編劇獎編劇喬丹·皮爾贏得了最佳原創劇本獎，成為周日晚上最受熱議的獎項之一。

我們幾乎可以肯定地說，奧斯卡近年收視率下降的主要因素是電視觀眾快速改變的觀看習慣。越來越多的人選擇在網上（包括社交媒體）觀看自己最喜歡的內容直播，而不是電視直播。值得一提的是，尼爾森的初期收視數據不包括數字和移動收視率（不過ABC只允許訂閱了有線電視和網上電視直播的用戶觀看昨晚的奧斯卡頒獎典禮直播）。

格萊美的收視率今年下降了24%，超級碗的收視率也創下7年來的新低，擁有一流劇本的網劇收視率僅占10或15年前收視率榜首劇集的一小部分。這已經成為了一個利基市場。正如托尼·索普拉諾所說，形勢正在下行。

——馬克·哈里斯（@MarkHarrisNYC）2018年3月5日

頒獎典禮和體育賽事等的現場直播的收視率近幾年一直在持續下滑，但這并未撼動它們在電視節目上的霸主地位。去年，奧斯卡頒獎禮收視率雖跌至九年來新低，卻仍是收視率排名第四的電視節目，僅次于第51屆超級碗和國家橄欖球聯盟的兩場冠軍賽。（財富中文網）

更新：尼爾森（Nielsen）的官方數據顯示，美國廣播公司（ABC）第90屆奧斯卡頒獎典禮的電視直播平均只有2,650萬觀眾收看，比去年減少20%，創下奧斯卡頒獎典禮收視率的歷史最低。

譯者：嚴匡正?

The telecast for the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday dragged on for almost four hours and, in the end, Oscar voters picked few surprise winners. But, perhaps the least surprising result of the night was the fact that television ratings for Hollywood’s most glamorous evening continued their years-long decline.

Early numbers from media measurement service Nielsen show that the 2018 Oscars ratings may have been some of the lowest ever recorded. Nielsen reported an 18.9 overnight household rating for Sunday’s Oscars broadcast, which marks a rating drop of 16% from the 22.4 rating produced by last year’s telecast. (Nielsen’s household ratings measure the percentage of homes in the company’s metered markets watching a specific program or event.)

Last year’s Oscars telecast ultimately drew about 32.9 million total TV viewers, which was the smallest Academy Awards audience since 2008, hosted by comedian Jon Stewart, attracted 31.8 million viewers. The 2008 Oscars were reportedly the event’s lowest-rated telecast ever, though last night’s show looks like its ratings could come in significantly lower, potentially below 29 million viewers.

Host network ABC’s own late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel hosted the event each of the past two years, including during the much talked-about Best Picture envelope snafu at the end of the 2017 awards. Any number of factors are often blamed for a low-rated award show, from an unpopular host to an unnecessarily long telecast or even nominees’ left-leaning politics.

One reason already being offered for the latest dip in Oscars ratings is the fact that this year’s crop of Best Picture nominees featured few, if any, box-office blockbusters. In fact, the highest box-office gross among the Best Picture nominees belonged to the intense World War II drama Dunkirk ($525 million worldwide), which came up short in the major categories but ultimately went home with three Oscars for film editing and sound editing and mixing. The second highest-grossing movie among the primary nominees was Get Out, with $255 million, which did win director and screenwriter Jordan Peele an historic Oscar for its screenplay in one of Sunday night’s most talked-about moments.

But, a driving factor for the Oscars’ recent ratings decline is almost certainly the rapidly-changing viewing habits of TV audiences, more and more of whom are choosing to stream their favorite content online (including on social media) rather than watching live on TV. Notably, Nielsen’s early ratings do not include digital and mobile viewership (though ABC only allowed viewers with cable subscriptions or live-TV streaming subscriptions to stream last night’s Oscars broadcast).

Ratings for the Grammys dropped 24% this year. The Super Bowl hit a 7-year low. The top scripted network series gets a mere fraction of what the number-one show got 10 or 15 years ago. It's a niche world. And things, as Tony Soprano once said, are trending downward.

— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) March 5, 2018

Ratings for live broadcasts, including award shows and sporting events, have been steadily declining for several years now. However, those broadcasts still routinely rank as the most-watched TV broadcasts each year, with last year’s Oscars ratings making the ceremony the fourth most-watched TV program, behind only Super Bowl LI and the NFL’s two conference championships, even with the program’s ratings then at a nine-year low.

UPDATE: The official tally from Nielsen shows that ABC’s telecast of the 90th Academy Awards averaged just 26.5 million television viewers, a decline of 20% over last year’s show and the ceremony’s worst viewership ever.