Page 31 - ARUBA TODAY

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PEOPLE & ARTS Wednesday 14 March 2018
Do Oscars and Grammys indicate awards shows losing appeal?

By DAVID BAUDER ences said on its 2016 taxes
AP Media Writer that it made $111 million in
NEW YORK (AP) — After revenue from the Oscars,
Nielsen's brutal morning- illustrating the economic
after report cards for the importance of making sure
Oscars and Grammys this it remains a big event.
winter, it's worth asking Some political conserva-
whether television view- tives have suggested that
ers are losing interest in a backlash among view-
watching the entertain- ers against liberal celebri-
ment industry's most prom- ties espousing their views
inent people celebrate contributes to the slump.
themselves.The Academy A Fox News web site head-
Awards reached 26.5 mil- line in January said that the
lion viewers, easily a re- "Trump-bashing Golden
cord low for what is often Globes" ratings were down.
the second most-watched That's a factor hard to mea-
program of the year after sure, however. One of the
the Super Bowl. A month Globes' biggest stories was
earlier, Grammy viewer- an Oprah Winfrey speech
ship slipped below the 20 some saw as a 2020 presi-
million mark, down 24 per- dential campaign-opener.
cent from 2017 and the Despite that, Globe ratings
music awards show's small- didn't nearly go down as
est audience since 2009. In this March 4, 2018 file photo, host Jimmy Kimmel speaks at the Oscars in Los Angeles. much as the Grammys or
Opening night of the Win- Associated Press Oscars.
ter Olympics had a bigger MTV Movie Awards, the we have out there nibbles much success. One retired The Oscars, meanwhile,
crowd than both shows. Billboard music awards, at the viewership base of network executive ques- celebrated movies like "The
That's alarming news for the iHeart Radio music the awards shows," O'Neil tions whether that trend Shape of Water" that could
networks that have con- awards, the American said. could be reversed. hardly be considered
sidered major awards Music Awards, competing Television viewership in "Short of full-frontal nudity, blockbusters. Couple that
shows to be reliable, DVR- country music organization general is going down, with I don't know what they with major awards com-
proof live events. Experts awards... You get the idea. more people attracted to could do," he quipped. petitions largely viewed as
suggest the shows aren't There's little novel about streaming services where The bad performances of shoe-ins, primarily because
immune to the same forc- celebrities standing on they can watch programs the Grammys and Oscars of the movie awards circuit
es depressing viewership stage with a piece of hard- without commercials and can't be explained simply that predated the Acad-
across all of television, with ware, thanking God, their on their own schedules. by those factors, however. emy Awards, and the night
some specific factors that spouses and agents. Young people, in par- The Golden Globes audi- bordered on the predict-
hurt the Oscars and Gram- Big awards shows used to ticular, increasingly pre- ence of 19 million in Janu- able. "The average Ameri-
mys this year. be one of the few chances fer watching highlights on ary was 5 percent down can doesn't know who
By the time the Oscars are to see celebrities outside their devices than shows from 2017, a decrease (acting award winners)
done, viewers who follow of their work. But the en- that stretch past three or roughly on par with what Frances McDormand and
these things are probably tertainment news shows four hours. Even Super Bowl most programs see these Sam Rockwell are," O'Neil
exhausted from awards. make that common-place, ratings have slipped the days. The Emmy Awards said. "That's unfortunate."
Besides the Emmys, Gold- too, said Tom O'Neil, editor past few years. audience of 11.38 million A big test can come next
en Globes and Grammys, of Goldderby.com, a web Networks have tried to fix last fall was slightly up from year for the Oscars, with
the calendar is filled with site that dishes and pre- those problems for their the year before, Nielsen the movie "Black Panther"
the actors, producers and dicts winners of big awards. shows in general, not just said. The Academy of Mo- both an enormous success
directors guild awards, the "The true glut of media that awards shows, without tion Picture Arts and Sci- and a critical favorite. q
Joy Behar of 'The View' apologizes

for Christianity comment

By DAVID BAUDER Behar called him person- one thing to talk to Jesus,"
AP Media Writer ally to say she was sorry, Behar said. "It's another
NEW YORK (AP) — Joy Be- he urged her to apologize thing when Jesus talks to
har of "The View" apolo- publicly. So she did at the you. That's called mental
gized Tuesday for sug- top of Tuesday's show. illness, if I'm not correct —
gesting mental illness was "I was raised to respect ev- hearing voices."
behind claims by people eryone's religious faith and "My question is, can he talk
that Jesus Christ talks to I fell short of that," the co- to Mary Magdalene with-
them, in remarks made on median said. "I sincerely out his wife in the room?"
her show last month about apologize for what I said." she said.
Vice President Mike Pence. Show moderator Whoopi On the same show, Behar
Her comments launched Goldberg quickly moved said she did not believe This combination photo shows TV personality Joy Behar at the
a protest that made it all on. Behar's original com- Pence was mentally ill and "Lucky Guy" Opening Night in New York on April 1, 2013, left,
the way to a shareholder's ments came on a Feb. that he would make a bet- and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence aspeaking at U.S. Yokota
meeting of ABC parent 13 show during a discus- ter president than Donald Air Base, on the outskirts of Tokyo, on Feb. 8, 2018.
Walt Disney Corp. Pence sion that touched upon Trump. But the damage Associated Press
said on Monday that when Pence's Christianity. "It's had been done. q