Oscar ratings report card

Oscar organizers can sigh with relief. Their big night still outshone "American Idol."

The contest is getting close, though.

Sunday's 79th Annual Academy Awards on ABC racked up an average audience of 39.9 million total viewers, according to early data from Nielsen Media Research.

The network trumpeted the fact that viewing was up 3% compared with last year, and the nearly four-hour extravaganza is guaranteed, as usual, to wind up among the year's most-watched TV events.

Among the key audience of adults aged 18 to 49, the Oscars notched a 14.0 rating, essentially flat with last year.

Even so, the ceremony, hosted for the first time by daytime talk host Ellen DeGeneres and honoring Martin Scorsese's "The Departed" as best picture, delivered the third-lowest viewer tally in at least 15 years.

The only smaller totals came in 2003 (33 million), when viewers were distracted by the start of the Iraq war, and last year (38.9 million), when "The Daily Show's" Jon Stewart drew mixed marks for his hosting.

The most-watched Oscars in recent history was the 1998 telecast, when 55 million viewers turned up to see "Titanic" take best picture.

The Oscars, which once were vanquished only by the Super Bowl in terms of connection with a giant audience, now seem somewhat diminished, especially alongside the force that is "American Idol" - underscoring how much TV viewing habits continue to change. Last month's sixth-season debut of Fox's singing contest gathered 37.4 million viewers.

John Rash, senior vice president at Minneapolis ad firm Campbell Mithun, said "Idol" viewers get hooked on the drama surrounding the competition and contestants. The Oscars, meanwhile, have lately moved away from its habit of honoring epics and blockbusters and gravitated more toward small, specialized films unknown to many Americans.

The film industry is "so vast and so splintered, and the award categories are confusing to the average viewer," Rash said.

The comparatively low numbers were thus hardly a surprise. "The films had relatively low box office, there seemed to be a low buzz factor around them, and you had a low-key hosting performance by Ellen DeGeneres," he said.

One bright note for the academy: Nielsen estimated that nearly 75 million Americans watched at least six minutes of the ceremony, proving that the telecast still retains considerable luster for viewers, even if they don't stick around for the entire evening.