ABC’s Win Is Tarnished

The Academy Awards provided ABC with only its second weeklong ratings win of the season, but the network still saw some rain fall on its victory parade, based on viewing estimates issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

The overall audience for the Oscar telecast was the lowest since 1997 (before the show moved to Sunday night and an earlier start time), and viewing of ABC’s arrival show and Barbara Walters interview special fell by 10% and 5%, respectively, versus last year.

It’s also worth noting that the percentage of U.S. homes tuning in declined to a record low, with slightly more than a quarter of U.S. households watching the awards at any given moment--a trend offset in part by population growth. The fact that Sunday’s show was the longest Oscars on record didn’t do much to benefit the ratings. The estimated audience, by the way, doesn’t factor in the last 12 minutes, since Nielsen stopped measuring the show after the final commercial break, which is all advertisers care about.

Turning to another spring ritual, CBS’ NCAA men’s basketball tournament coverage continues to slightly outpace results from a year ago. Two new sitcoms, meanwhile, got off to promising starts last week, with CBS’ “Baby Bob” faring well behind “The King of Queens” and Fox’s “Andy Richter Controls the Universe” beating NBC’s fading Julia Louis-Dreyfus vehicle “Watching Ellie” in its slot.