Special report: The 80th Academy Awards

Winners of Oscar awards pose backstage with their trophies during the 80th Annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, California, the United States, on Feb. 24, 2008. From left to right are winners for Best Actor Daniel Day-Lewis, for Best Supporting Actress Tilda Swinton, for Best Actress Marion Cotillard and for Best Supporting Actor Javier Bardem.(Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, Feb. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- The 80th anniversary edition of the Academy Awards, dominated by European stars and films that played poorly at the box office, averaged 32 million viewers, entering the record books on Monday as the least watched Oscar telecast ever.

    The national viewer tally reported by Nielsen Media Research for ABC's live, three-hour-plus telecast on Sunday was down about 1 million viewers from the previous record low, set in 2003 when the Oscars were presented just after the U.S. war on Iraq had begun.

    The national household rating of 18.7 also marks the lowest level by that measure going back to the very first televised Oscars in 1953.

    The weak ratings for Sunday's broadcast came as no surprise given that many movies showcased this year -- "There Will Be Blood," "Michael Clayton," "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," -- generated little enthusiasm among moviegoers despite critical raves.

    The Oscar ratings likely also suffered from the fact that all four acting awards this year went to European performers whose names are fairly obscure for American audiences and who appeared in movies that relatively few moviegoers saw.

    The Oscars generally have drawn a bigger U.S. television audience in years when the big crowd pleasers at the multiplex, like "Titanic" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," figured prominently in the awards race.

    Oscar producers already were bracing for low ratings due to an overall viewership slump in network TV this broadcast season, exacerbated by a glut of reruns and reality shows triggered by the recently settled Hollywood writers strike.

    (Agencies)