Sunday night’s Oscars may have been the lowest-rated ceremony in history, but the 19% drop in total viewership doesn’t seem that bad compared to the cliff dive Ryan Seacrest’s E! red carpet coverage ratings took this weekend.
As Variety reports:
E!’s red carpet coverage, which Seacrest hosted, averaged a 0.4 rating in adults 18-49 and 1.3 million viewers. That is down approximately 43% in the key demographic and approximately 35% in total viewers compared to its coverage in 2017.
Could this have something to do with the detailed sexual harassment and assault accusations which have recently been leveled against Seacrest? (He has strongly denied the claims.) You be the judge. I’m sure it was probably difficult for him to keep viewers engaged when a wave of celebrities—including all five Best Actress nominees—avoided him on the red carpet like the plague because he’s, you know, shrouded by sexual misconduct allegations and talking to him would be in the very least terrible PR for Time’s Up-savvy stars.
But while Seacrest’s red carpet ratings were astoundingly low, Variety pointed out that his post-Oscars Live with Kelly and Ryan show brought in its highest ratings in nearly a year. So it’s not like viewers have dropped Seacrest entirely. Another test will emerge when Seacrest returns to host American Idol for its 16th season. I’d say it should be interesting to see how that goes but uh who watches American Idol?