Sunday night’s telecast of the 90th annual Academy Awards saw viewership plunge 20 percent from last year to a record-low 26.5 million.

High on politics and social justice issues, Sunday’s live Oscar broadcast on ABC also marked the first time on record the Oscars reached fewer than 30 million people.

“The previous low-water mark for the Oscars came in 2008, when No Country For Old Men won best picture, the Associated Press reports. “Last year’s show, also hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, reached 33 million viewers.”

For years, the Oscars had been the most-watched TV program after the Super Bowl. But it seems Americans had been tuning out awards shows for years. This year’s Grammy’s, for example, saw a 20 percent drop from a year ago. The three and a half hour CBS broadcast reaching an all-time low in the key adults 18-49 demo, with 19.8 million viewers.

The historically low Oscar ratings, though, was predictable given the show’s host Jimmy Kimmel, who blasts President Donald Trump on his late-night show, the left-wing politics taking center stage in the build-up to the show.

“The writing was on the wall for this ratings catastrophe all year,” Nolte writes. “Almost every other award show suffered massive audience erosion and there was no movie nominated for Best Picture for anyone to root for. Seven of the nine nominees averaged just $47 million at the box office, which means only about 5 million people saw them.”

“Bringing Jimmy Kimmel back for another round as host was also a big mistake. Kimmel is one of the most divisive and polarizing figures in the country, a Trump-hating Democrat who regularly lectures the rest of us about embracing socialized medicine and giving up our guns,” Nolte continued. “With Kimmel as host, the Academy basically told 50 percent of the country to go watch something else.”

Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @jeromeehudson