Sunday's Oscars TV ratings are pacing to be the show's worst ever

• The 90th Academy Awards had an overnight rating of 18.9, that's down 16% from last year's show.
• When final numbers come in, this year's show could turn out to be the least-watched in Oscar history.

It turns out giving away a Jet Ski and surprising a theater full of people watching "A Wrinkle in Time" wasn't enough to suck people into watching the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday.

Overnight ratings of the ABC telecast, which didn't wrap up until midnight eastern time, indicate that the show is down 16% from last year's, averaging a 18.9 rating among households between 8 p.m. and 11 a.m. EST, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The 2017 show, which included the best-picture fiasco, earned a 22.4 overnight rating, and ultimately had 32.9 million viewers for the night. That amounts to the second-lowest viewership in Oscars history.

And the way things are looking with this year's overnight figures, the 2018 edition is flirting with being the show's all-time lowest.

With general audiences not interested in the favorites for best picture, and many of the major categories predetermined by Oscar pundits, the show going in didn't have much drama for the casual movie lover.

Though Jimmy Kimmel kept a steady hand with the hosting duties for a second year, his bits - including bringing stars like Gal Gadot, Emily Blunt, Mark Hamill, and Armie Hammer to surprise a theater filled with people watching Disney's "A Wrinkle in Time" - weren't that memorable.

But audiences have generally been ignoring the telecast for years.

The 2017 rating was down by 4% from the Chris Rock-hosted 2016 year. The lowest rating ever for the Oscars is 2008, hosted by Jon Stewart, which was seen by 31.8 million viewers (that year "No Country for Old Men" won best picture).

Here are the total viewers for the Oscars since 2000, according to Programming Insider:

2017 - 32.9 million
2016 - 34.4 million
2015 - 37.3 million
2014 - 43.7 million
2013 - 40.4 million
2012 - 39.5 million
2011 - 37.9 million
2010 - 41.6 million

2009 - 36.9 million
2008 - 31.8 million

2007 - 39.9 million
2006 - 38.6 million
2005 - 42.2 million
2004 - 43.6 million
2003 - 33.0 million
2002 - 40.5 million
2001 - 42.9 million
2000 - 46.5 million

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