The Oscars have been a big deal for most of their history, especially since they started being televised in the 50s. They benefit a lot from being an institution at this point since they're the oldest entertainment award still being handed out. Like most start ups, they weren't followed much at first but their stature has grown with time to the point where they began to be seen as the most coveted film award. There were a couple of years in their first two decades where they considered pulling the plug on the show and every few years there will be a deluge of think pieces declaring them to be "over" usually following a few years of slipping ratings in the telecast.

There's certainly more coverage of the Oscars now as a result of there just being more media. Similarly, the move away from the more monolithic media structures of the 20th century kind of dilutes its presence because there's so much other news being covered and published. For an example of this, the first broadcast had an 82% viewership share compared to this year's 33% but the initial broadcast occurred in 1953 when there was only three channels in most homes. The ratings for the show itself tends to fluctuate and you can see the history of their ratings to 1953 when the show was first broadcast.