Daytime talk show host Ellen DeGeneres drew a million more U.S. TV viewers to the Oscars than last year’s telecast, but some critics found her easy-going* style too low-key* for Hollywood’s biggest night.

The 79th annual Academy Awards show on Sunday, featuring big wins for Martin Scorsese’s crime thriller* “The Departed” and Al Gore’s global warming documentary, averaged 39.9 million viewers for the ABC network, Nielsen Media Research reported on Monday.

That’s up from the 38.8 million who watched the ceremony last year when another first-time Oscar host, political satirist* Jon Stewart, presided* over a ceremony in which “Crash” won best picture.

By comparison, the 2005 Academy Awards hosted by Chris Rock drew 41.5 million viewers.

Observers predicted* last year that a relative lack of star power and the darkly serious subject of nominated films, which also included “Capote” and “Munich,” would weaken viewer interest in the Oscars.

This year’s Oscar contenders*, as a group, performed better at the box office — “Departed” had box-office receipts of US$132 million in the United States — and included comparatively uplifting* films such as “Dreamgirls” and “Little Miss Sunshine.”

But critics were divided over whether DeGeneres’s low-key daytime TV style was suitable for the Oscars.

(SD-Agencies)