From The New York Times:
THEY gave out Oscars during previous recessions. They even gave out Oscars during each year of the Great Depression.
But the way Madison Avenue is behaving toward the 81st annual Academy Awards, to be broadcast by ABC on Sunday, one could be excused for believing that the ceremony was actually for the Razzie Awards, which mock the worst Hollywood movies.
Several Oscar sponsors from last year — among them General Motors, L’Oréal and the Bertolli food line sold by Unilever — are forgoing the program.
[...]
It is estimated that ABC is charging about $1.4 million to $1.7 million for each 30 seconds of commercial time on Sunday, or as much as 20 percent less than last year. By comparison, the most recent rates were estimated at $1.8 million for 2008 and $1.7 million for 2007. - Read the rest on The New York Times web site.
Well, since the ratings were down by about 20% last year, that makes sense, no?
looking at the past data, the ad rates don’t always seem to correlate with the the prior year ratings. But the article did attribute it both to the sluggish economy and last year’s sluggish ratings.
I personally don’t get these self indulgent award shows. Every year they pat themselves on the back largely for movies and other media shows I either haven’t heard of or don’t care about.
I think these guys are bracing ahead of time for low ratings because I’m probably not alone in avoiding this show this year(and most years).
AniMatsuri, I think the average American agrees with you these days when it comes to awards shows, particularly over the past several years. Live special broadcast on network TV is a situation where Nielsen ratings apply quite well, IMHO. Nielsens show declining viewership of the Oscars and similar shows. There’s a general “vibe” at the awards shows since the 90′s, and it’s most noticeable at the Oscars, in my opinion. The vibe whispers: “Love Us! We are amazing! We made edgy, controversial, dramatic films, therefore we are superior beings worthy of your adoration!”
I might peek at the show this year becasue Mickey Rourke has been a great antihero as he’s made his way around the awards circuit. It’s refreshing to see him chain-smoking and chugging champagne straight from the bottle at the pre- and post-show press roundups. It’s refreshing to see an actor who DOESN’T spout political diatribes in his acceptance speeches. It was hilarious to see him curse at his director and mouth off about WWE pro wrestling, too
. Then again, most of the Rourke experience will be available in news clips and on YouTube. So why watch all these other Hollywood people inlfate each other’s sense of self-importance?
Oh heavens! Our pampered, spoiled movie stars might have to wear one of their dresses twice, or only get 4 new cell phones in the goodie bags instead of 6.
Did anyone catch the manufacturer of the product that was advertised last night, called “Wrinke Free Patches?”
Arrogant comments like those of Sean Penn are the reason people do not watch. When are these people going to get it?