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Oscars Land Smallest Audience Since '08, Officially The Least-Watched Ever

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA/AP) — The 2018 Academy Awards are officially the least-watched Oscars telecast in history.

Preliminary ratings figures saw the telecast drop to an all-time low of 26.5 million viewers, roughly 19 percent down from its 2017 numbers.

It's  the first time on record the Oscars reached fewer than 30 million people and marks the lowest number of viewers since 2008, when nearly 32 million people tuned in.

With a running time of nearly four hours, the Oscars also clocked in as the longest telecast in over a decade, despite only topping the 2017 show by one minute.

Television viewership in general is declining, but Oscar ratings are often tied to the popularity of the movies that are celebrating, and this doesn't say much for "The Shape of Water," which won best picture on Sunday night.

The previous low-water mark for the Oscars came in 2008, when "No Country For Old Men" won best picture. Last year's show, also hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, reached 33 million viewers.

Official Nielsen figures for the telecast won't be available until Tuesday.

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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