February 28, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — Television ratings for Sunday's Academy Awards slipped 10% from last year's levels, notes a Los Angeles Times report. Scott Collins writes, "Sunday's outing would seem to suggest that no matter who the hosts
are, their power to shake up viewing patterns remains fairly limited.
Jeffrey McCall, a media professor at DePauw University, argued that
viewers are wearying of Hollywood self-congratulation and crude moments
such as Melissa Leo’s blurting of an obscenity when winning for
supporting actress (the language was bleeped out by ABC)."
The network turned to young stars James Franco and Anne Hathaway to host this year's ceremony. Still, ratings in the key 18-to-49 demographic slipped an even greater 11% year-over-year.
Dr. McCall, professor of communication at DePauw and author of Viewer Discretion Advised: Taking Control of Mass Media Influences, tells the Times, "The hosts last night were not that entertaining, but the show wouldn’t have been saved even by better hosts."
Access the piece at the newspaper's website.
Jeffrey M. McCall is a 1976 graduate of DePauw and is frequently called upon by major media outlets to discuss media matters. The professor offered an analysis of the Obama administration's relationship with Fox News last week in the Indianapolis Star and recently discussed Hillary Clinton's speech on "Internet rights and wrongs" with the Christian Science Monitor.