The embattled host sees his E! coverage sink 35 percent, far outpacing already-dramatic losses for ABC’s Oscar telecast.
Ryan Seacrest’s awkward Oscar weekend had some ups and downs.
The E! emcee, one of the most go-to spots on the long Academy Awards red carpet, headed into the annual Hollywood kudos with doubts looming over who would hit him up as allegations from a woman who claimed she was once sexually harassed by him gain steam.
Well, it turns out that a lot of viewers didn’t care that much about how it would all go down. E’s Live from the Red Carpet coverage hemorrhaged 35 percent of its 2017 audience on Sunday night — well outpacing the losses of ABC’s fatigued Oscar telecast. E!’s coverage only pulled 1.3 million viewers, losing even more adults 18-49 — with the rating falling 43 percent to just a 0.4 rating in the key demo.
Seacrest is hardly the only red carpet woe for E! since longtime correspondent Cat Sandler quit over a salary dispute with the network in December, one where she pointed out that colleague Jason Kennedy was making double what she did. This fact was brought up on the Golden Globes carpet during several awkward interviews. And Sandler, for her part, was tapped to host the starry Vanity Fair party carpet coverage by the magazine.
It’s not all bad for Seacrest’s TV draw this week. Monday’s post-Oscar episode of Live With Kelly and Ryan is pacing for its most-watched episode since he officially joined Kelly Ripa as co-host in May 2017. The episode, filmed at the Dolby Theatre just hours after the Oscars, fetched a 3.0 rating among households and topped all other syndicated series.
The real TV test for Seacrest, however, comes this coming Sunday. ABC debuts its pricey gamble to reboot American Idol — and, as he was during the original on Fox, Seacrest will be front and center as host.
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