BAFTA viewers drop by half a million

The number of people tuning in to watch the BAFTAs on television took a sharp nosedive last night, with viewing figures down by half a million, compared to 2018’s ceremony.

The BAFTAs drew an average audience of 3.5 million viewers when it aired on Sunday on BBC One.

The EE British Academy Film Awards, which aired from 9pm until 11pm, hosted by Joanna Lumley, peaked at 4.1 million viewers and had an audience share of 20.7%, according to overnight ratings.

It marked a drop of half a million viewers from last year’s BAFTAs, Lumley’s first time as host.

Despite a star-studded turn out on the night, which including red carpet appearances from Bradley Cooper, Taylor Swift, Melissa McCarthy, and Amy Adams, people at home simply didn’t tune in to see who won what.

Lumley’s opening monologue has been roundly criticised by those who did watch the show, which saw The Favourite and Roma picking up the most awards. Her intro, which included jokes about the KKK and the Oscars, was called a “train wreck” by Piers Morgan on Twitter.

The ratings drop for the BAFTAs comes at the same time that viewing numbers for the Oscars are a hot topic of conversation. The number of people watch the Academy Awards has been in sharp decline over the last few years, with 2018’s show recording an all-time low of 26.5 million viewers in the U.S..

The Oscars will take place on 24 February.

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