Oscar ratings down according to early figures

LOS ANGELES, Mar 6 (Reuters) Oscar organizers' fears of weak television ratings for an Academy Awards lacking in star power and box-office hits may about to be confirmed.

Preliminary figures released by Nielsen Media Research today for ABC's 3 1/2-hour Oscar telecast capped by the surprise Oscar triumph of racial drama ''Crash'' indicate a ratings drop of about 10 percent from last year's ceremony.

Last night's broadcast, hosted for the first time by comedian Jon Stewart, drew an average household rating of 27.1 per cent, which would be the lowest percentage of homes that has tuned into the Academy Awards since 2003, according to data Nielsen collected in the 55 largest US TV markets.

By comparison, last year's Oscars ceremony, which crowned boxing film ''Million Dollar Baby'' as 2004's best picture, garnered an average household rating of 30.1.

More accurate national numbers are expected later today measuring audience size according to the average number of individuals who watched the broadcast.

Nielsen ratings for the Oscars and other entertainment awards shows have been generally declining over the years. They have tended to be highest in years when films that packed the multiplexes also figured prominently at the Oscars.

That was not the case this year, as none of the five movies nominated for the top prize made much of an impact at the box office. And many of the performers nominated in the major categories, such as best actor winner Philip Seymour Hoffman, were hardly household names.

The Oscar-sponsoring Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the ABC network had hoped that Stewart, a popular host of cable TV's faux newscast ''The Daily Show,'' could generate additional interest this year, especially among young viewers who make up the core of his fan base.

Still, the Oscars gave ABC a welcome ratings boost over its network rivals last night. The pre-Oscar show and the ceremony itself together beat the combined competition in metered market ratings of CBS, NBC, Fox and WB by 36 percent during prime time.

REUTERS VJ RAI0153