Oscar night's TV turn-off

The big acting winners on Oscar night celebrate

The drama of Oscar night failed to translate into TV audience figures for the ceremony in the US, with the second lowest ratings for 10 years.

The live broadcast of the ceremony from Los Angeles attracted 42.9 million viewers, down almost 3.5 million on last year's ceremony, a fall of seven percent.

Host Steve Martin took over from Billy Crystal

ABC, which broadcast the ceremony, estimates that 72.2 million people watched at least some of this year's Oscars.

In 1997, the success of The English Patient at the Oscars, was watched by one of the smallest ever TV audiences of 40.1 million.

Short ceremony

The relatively short ceremony, more than 30 minutes shorter than in 2000, and Steve Martin's much publicised role as host failed to boost the ratings. Overall, the ratings are the fourth worst in 15 years.

The broadcast was still the most watched programme in the United States on Sunday night, and the fourth most watched programme of the year, behind the Super Bowl, and two editions of the reality TV programme, Survivor.

Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger won four Oscars

Gladiator won best picture at the Oscars, winning five awards in total, with the rest of the awards split two ways between Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Traffic, which each won four awards.

Gladiator star Russell Crowe won best actor while Julia Roberts won the Oscar for her role as feisty single mother Erin Brockovich.

Best supporting actor went to Benicio Del Toro for his role in Traffic while the surprise of the night was Marcia Gay Harden, winning best supporting actress for Pollock.