Trump Mocks ‘Politically Correct and Boring’ Oscars for Low Ratings

The Wrap

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Oscar viewership fell 56% to an all-time low

Donald Trump wasted no time mocking the 93rd Academy Awards for its record-low ratings, calling Sunday’s ceremony “politically correct and boring” and asking the Academy to “bring back a great host.”

“What used to be called The Academy Awards, and now is called the ‘Oscars’ — a far less important and elegant name — had the lowest Television Ratings in recorded history, even much lower than last year, which set another record low. If they keep with the current ridiculous formula, it will only get worse — if that’s possible,” Trump said in a statement from his office.

He continued: “Go back 15 years, look at the formula they then used, change the name back to THE ACADEMY AWARDS, don’t be so politically correct and boring, and do it right. ALSO, BRING BACK A GREAT HOST. These television people spend all their time thinking about how to promote the Democrat Party, which is destroying our Country, and cancel Conservatives and Republicans. That formula certainly hasn’t worked very well for The Academy!”

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Oscars Viewership Falls 56% to All-Time Low

According to time-zone adjusted Nielsen data, the 93rd annual Academy Awards drew 10.4 million total viewers and a 2.1 rating/14 share in the advertiser-coveted adults 18-49 demographic. Those numbers include out-of-home viewing, and are down -56% in viewers (vs. 23.6 million total viewers in 2020) and 60.4% in ratings (vs. a 5.3 rating) from the 2020 show.

Both the rating and total-viewer tally are new record lows for the Oscars telecast, which hit its previous all-time lows with last year’s show, a telecast that aired before COVID-19 interfered with live awards shows (and the traditional release of movies in theaters).

This is not the first time Trump has criticized the Academy Awards — last year, he inexplicably complained about South Korean film “Parasite” winning Best Picture.

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“By the way, how bad were the Academy Awards? And the winner is a movie from South Korea,” then-President Trump said during a rally. “What the hell was that all about? We got enough problems with South Korea with trade. On top of it, they give him the best movie of the year? Was it good? I don’t know. Can we get ‘Gone With the Wind’ back please? ‘Sunset Boulevard.’ So many great movies, the winner is from South Korea. I thought it was best foreign film, right? Best foreign movie. No! Did this ever happen before?”

Trump also insulted Brad Pitt at the time, calling the “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood” Oscar winner “a little wise guy.”

The Oscars was just the latest awards show to suffer a steep drop in ratings this season: This year’s Grammy Awards sunk more than 60% in ratings from 2020’s show among adults 18-49, the age range most sought after by advertisers on entertainment programming. Just 8.8 million viewers tuned in across multiple platforms, down by a full 10 million from a year ago.

Two weeks before the Grammys aired, NBC’s 2021 Golden Globes shed 63% of total viewers from 2020, plummeting from 18.4 million overall TV viewers to a mere 6.9 million. The special’s 1.4 rating in the key demo was down 68% from 2020’s 4.7.

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