Oscars 2020: TV ratings sink to all-time low

The numbers were even worse than 2018

The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony had the lowest audience figures in the show’s history, US broadcaster ABC has revealed.

Drawing an average of just 23.6m viewers across the night, the somewhat uneventful ceremony reached substantially fewer people than the previous low-point in 2018 (26.5m viewers).

When the whole of the last decade is taken into account, the decline becomes even more stark. In 2014, the Oscars managed to snare over 40m US-based viewers, nearly double this year’s count.

Many are speculating about the reasons for this year’s poor television ratings.

It’s possible that more people are choosing to watch the Oscars illegally, via internet streaming sites.

There was no host for this year’s ceremony, continuing in the vein of last year's show. With audiences seemingly losing interest, however, it seems likely that 2021 will see a return to the single-host format in a bid to shake things up.

The night started out with few surprises, with all of the acting category awards going to heavily tipped favourites (Brad Pitt, Laura Dern, Joaquin Phoenix and Renée​ Zellwegeer).

However, shock wins for Korean drama Parasite in the Best Director and Best Picture categories gave the end of the night some much-needed drama.

See the full list of Oscar-winners here.