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ITV Oscars coverage secures viewers – and criticism

Viewers peaked at 1.1m but there has already been a backlash against the first night of ITV’s Academy Awards coverage, hosted by Jonathan Ross

Rather than roping in film specialists for the evening, ITV had opted for a more eclectic range of names: Cold Feet’s Fay Ripley, comedian Doc Brown, The Hobbit actor Richard Armitage and radio presenter Yinka Bokinni. Although all the panellists did appear to have watched the key films, viewers were left unimpressed by their insights, as well as their failure to pronounce names such as Da’Vine Joy Randolph, the best supporting actress winner. A comparison of Killers of the Flower Moon – Martin Scorsese’s epic about the mass murder of Native Americans – and ITV soap Emmerdale also went down badly with many at home, as did a long game of guess-the-movie Pictionary.

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