Can The Oscars Stop The Ratings Slide?

By Desa Philadelphia

This year's Academy Awards telecast can be grateful for at least one thing: it doesn't have to compete against Desperate Housewives. ABC's sexy soap has already beaten the Grammys, the Golden Globes and the People's Choice Awards in the ratings so far this year. And with the Oscarcast dropping steadily in the ratings over the past few years (to a low of 33 million viewers in 2003, though last year it showed a slight uptick) and a lack of big box-office hits among this year's nominees, the stage seems set for another ratings fizzle.

But the Oscar show is preempting Housewives on ABC, and producer Gil Cates has made a number of changes aimed at goosing the ratings. Several seem cribbed from an MTV Video Music Awards show. For one thing, Oscar's stage will extend into the audience. The aisles will become performance space, and some winners will give their acceptance speeches next to their seats.

Then, of course, there is the show's M.C., Chris Rock. Host of the MTV awards for several years, Rock has been promoting his new gig by bashing the Oscars ("What straight black man sits there and watches the Oscars?" he said last month), raising concerns that his irreverence might be too much for Oscar--or the FCC. But there will probably be a time delay, and Cates insists he isn't worried. "He told me a couple times he never curses in front of his mommy," says Cates, "and his mom's going be at the show." Cates also points out that Rock's hiring isn't exactly a bold new idea: the producer first offered him the job six years ago. "He told me then, 'It's an old-man show.' This time he said, 'Well, I'm an old man.'" --By Desa Philadelphia