Uh, oh! Viewing figures for Sunday's awardsfests on both sides of the Atlantic were off significantly from last year. Does this mean that the upcoming Oscarcast, even with the nominees now attending, is headed for ratings disaster as well?

The 50th annual Grammys pulled in just 17.5 million viewers, winning the night for CBS against a lineup of mostly repeats. That paltry figure (off from 20 million last year) puts the golden anniversary show in second to last place among Grammycasts, just ahead of the 2006 show that drew only 17 million. However, with only a 6.6 rating/16 share for adults 18-49, this year's kudos was the lowest scoring ever with that desirable demographic.

TVbytheNumbers.com offers an informative chart that tracks the ups and downs of the kudocast from 1979 on. Aside from 1984, when viewership spiked to 50 million-plus in the wake of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" of a year, the trend has been ever downward. While there has been an occasional blip, like last year, audiences are tuning out as record sales are turning down.

Over in old Blighty, the numbers for the BAFTAs were also off. Though it had been hyped as a star-studded affair, many of the Hollywood A-list did not make the journey across eight time zones to walk the red carpet at the Royal Opera House. And in his second year as emcee, BBC talk show host Jonathan Ross still paled in comparison to the incomparable Stephen Fry, who had held sway for six years.

Indeed, viewers preferred Fry and his latest TV series, "Kingdom," to the kudocast by a more than 50% margin. While the audience for the first hour of the BAFTAs on BBC1 drew 3.5 million for a 14 share, Fry reigned with 5.4 million and a 22 share over on ITV. After a break at 10 for the news, the second half of the BAFTAs fared even worse, with only 2.9 million staying tuned.

In his second turn emceeing the Academy Awards, can cable TV host Jon Stewart fare any better? In his first try two years ago, Stewart presided over the second-lowest-rated Oscarcast. This year, without a blockbuster in the lineup and with actors rather than movie stars being feted, will the American audience be just as indifferent to the Oscars as the Brits were to the BAFTAs?

Photo: TVByTheNumbers.com