Oscars 2021: With award ratings in freefall, hoping for the best in a lost year

Organizers of the Academy Awards are avoiding crystal balls, but they too appear resigned to the grim prospect that, for all their efforts and precautions, a disappointing number of viewers will tune in Sunday night.

Organizers of the Academy Awards are avoiding crystal balls, but they too appear resigned to the grim prospect that, for all their efforts and precautions, a disappointing number of viewers will tune in Sunday night. The question, in fact, seems goes beyond just how low ratings will go in this lost year to whether award shows can rebound from the declines already witnessed in 2020 and 2021 if and when the world returns to a semblance of normalcy. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, director Steven Soderbergh, who is among this year's Oscar producers, dismissed ratings concerns by saying, "We're worrying about things that we can control and that's not on that list." The priority, he added, was to provide the winners "the opportunity to stand up in a room, be handed an Oscar and have that moment. Even though it's been an incredibly challenging year, we didn't want to cheat them out of that experience."