CBS News
March 24, 2003
(CBS) The wartime Academy Awards telecast on ABC Sunday night was the least-watched Oscar ceremony since Nielsen Media Research began keeping records in 1974.
An estimated 33.1 million people watched “Chicago” win best picture, Nielsen said on Monday, down sharply from the 41.8 million who watched the Oscars last year.
The Oscars toned down the glitz Sunday night at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood because of the war with Iraq, and going into the weekend, there had been some question whether the ceremony would be held. That took its toll, said Larry Hyams, ABC’s chief researcher.
“It was such a special instance, it’s hard to speculate what it was beyond the war coverage,” Hyams said Monday. He noted that viewership has been sharply up for cable news networks covering the war full time.
