Initial ratings are in for the 88th Academy Awards, and the numbers are at a reported 8th-year low.
According to Variety, the ratings went down 6% compared to last year’s numbers, and the Academy saw its lowest ratings since Jon Stewart hosted the show in 2008.
The total numbers are set to be released later, and are expected to reflect around just 34 million viewers. While those numbers may seem great for other programs, they are definitely a drop for the Oscar’s.
This year controversy surrounding the obvious whitewashing of all of the acting categories drew a high amount of attention to the Oscar’s, an issue that has occurred for two years in a row. Many called the Academy out with the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag, while celebrities like #JadaPinkettSmith called for a boycott of the awards. There’s no way to say for sure what contributed to the drop in viewers, but something definitely did.
