AMERICAN IDOL - THE OSCARS: STILL NO. 2

The Oscars' position as the second most-viewed telecast of the season behind the Super Bowl was re-secured Monday after preliminary ratings had indicated that the 79th annual awards show had attracted an audience that was slightly smaller than American Idol's season debut in January. That was before ratings from the major West Coast markets were added to the mix, and they proved extraordinarily high. While the ABC-TV telecast averaged a 23.5 rating and a 35 share nationally between 8:30 p.m. and midnight (39.9 million viewers), San Francisco recorded a whopping 35.3/57; Los Angeles, a 29.9/47; and San Diego, a 29.8/45. Overall, ratings were up 2.6 percent over last year's telecast (which recorded the second-smallest audience in 18 years). However, they were down 5.2 percent from those for 2005. Meanwhile Daily Variety reported today (Tuesday) that the three-hour (!) finale of Mexico's version of Ugly Betty (La Fea mas Bella) trounced Oscar coverage in Mexico, grabbing 63 percent of the audience for the Televisa network. Although 2006 was often described as the year of the Hispanic filmmaker, with several of their works in Oscar contention, TV Azteca's coverage of the awards came in a distant second.

27/02/2007