MUMBAI: Is awards show fatigue setting in in the US? Data for the most important awards show in film The Oscar Awards 2005 that took place on Sunday (early Monday India time) points a clear finger in that direction.

Preliminary ratings provided by Nielsen Media Research indicate that about 41.5 million people tuned in to ABC to watch the show. Last year 43.5 million watched The Lord Of The Rings dominate. In India the show aired on Star Movies.

Oscar failed to strike Gold on the ratings front

The Academy had roped in comedian Chris Rock to host the show in a bid to attract the younger audience that advertisers target. However there was no getting away from the fact that none of the movies that were up for best picture, including the winner Million Dollar Baby, made anywhere near as much as what LOTR grossed. In fact LOTR made more than the five films put together. That would mean that viewers had less stake in watching and being interested in who won.

Hillary Swank picked up another Oscar

The reduction in the Oscar ratings followed a similar performance for The Golden Globes and Grammy Awards. Advertisers had shelled out an average $1.6 million per 30-second spot this year for The Oscars. Reports indicate that they are still willing to pay despite the gradual ratings decline. That is because in an increasingly fragmented television market guaranteed mass viewership is becoming more difficult.

Foxx became the third African American to win a Best Actor Oscar

On a more positive note the Oscars only suffered a five per cent decline in viewership this year. The Golden Globes this year suffered a huge 40 per cent drop. The Grammys posted its worst showing in a decade. An estimated 18.8 million, or 28 per cent less, tuned in. Last year The Emmys for the US television industry had got its smallest audience since 1990.

Star Movies signs deal with Firstnet: Meanwhile Star has announced that it has signed a deal with Firstnet which is a part of the Midle East pay TV platform Arab Digital Distribution (Add). Firstnet will air the Oscars in the UAE on 2 March.:

Jamie Foxx's win ranks as top Tivo moment: One of the highlights of the Oscars was Jamie Foxx's emotional acceptance speech after winning Best Actor for Ray. This was the top Tivo moment of the Oscar broadcast according to personal video recorder maker TiVo analysis. In his speech, Foxx gave a heartfelt tribute to his grandmother saying "She still talks to me, only now she talks to me in my dreams. I can't wait to go to sleep tonight."

The second most popular TiVo moment of the evening was Million Dollar Baby winning best picture. TiVo's audience measurement analysis is based on aggregated data from a sample of 10,000 anonymous TiVo households. TiVo viewership information gauges viewer interest in programming content by measuring the percentage of the TiVo
audience who are watching in "Play" speed.