It's hard to remember a clip going as viral as Will Smith's outburst at this year's Academy Awards.
No such thing as bad press?
Despite the widespread condemnation of Smith's slap, the age old saying feels appropriate here, as the waning interest in the Oscars ceremony was put briefly on hold, with social media interactions about the altercation far outstripping any other news story in the 24 hours after the broadcast.
As a formal investigation gets underway, producers of the show will have to make peace with the fact that one crazy moment is unlikely to undo the sliding interest in the event. 40 million Americans used to routinely tune in to watch the event, Sunday's show got less than 17 million, and a majority of Americans had only heard of 2 of the 10 Best Picture Nominees.
The Times They Are a-Changin'
In fairness to The Academy Awards, measuring the impact of a show by its traditional broadcast numbers is increasingly archaic, given how much content is watched on streaming or social media platforms. Unfortunately, compiling data from linear TV, streaming platforms and social media interactions isn't easy... just ask Nielsen.
Measurement company Nielsen, which provided the numbers in the chart above, has been under pressure to make the transition to digital measurement, and itself has been in the headlines this week as it's set to be acquired for $16 billion.
