An estimated 36.3 million people watched this year's Academy Awards, an increase of more than 4 million from last year's least-watched Oscars ceremony ever.

While ABC was heartened by the larger audience, especially among younger viewers, there are still only two Oscar telecasts on record with fewer viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Last year, when "No Country For Old Men" won best picture, the telecast was seen by 32 million people. The 2003 telecast, with "Chicago" as the best picture winner, was seen by 33 million people.

Hugh Jackman was the host of Sunday's show, where "Slumdog Millionaire" was the big winner. Among the earlier awards on the telecast was the late Heath Ledger's best supporting actor prize for "The Dark Knight."

At a time that the TV audience is fragmenting, Sunday's audience was the biggest for any prime-time entertainment program in two years, ABC said. The Golden Globes was seen last month by just under 15 million people.
The largest Oscars audience on record was in 1998, when 55.2 million watched "Titanic" win best picture.

Fitch Ratings said Thursday it has placed Charter Communications Inc.'s "CCC" issuer default rating on negative rating watch, after the cable operator said it will begin discussions with its bondholders about financial options to improve its balance sheet.

Fitch said the rating watch reflects its concern that the start of those discussions increases the likelihood that the company will engage in a broad-based distressed debt exchange or file for bankruptcy.

About $21.1 billion of the company's outstanding debt as of Sept. 30 is affected.

A "CCC" rating is non-investment grade, also known as "junk."

Charter, a St. Louis-based cable TV operator controlled by Microsoft Corp. (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) co-founder Paul Allen, reported interest costs of $478 million for the third quarter compared with operating income of $208 million. Allen no longer works for Microsoft.

Charter's shares were trading at 13 cents apiece Thursday afternoon.

Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

Fitch puts Charter on rating watch over debt woes

Fitch Ratings said Thursday it has placed Charter Communications Inc.'s "CCC" issuer default rating on negative rating watch, after the cable operator said it will begin discussions with its bondholders about financial options to improve its balance sheet.

Fitch said the rating watch reflects its concern that the start of those discussions increases the likelihood that the company will engage in a broad-based distressed debt exchange or file for bankruptcy.

About $21.1 billion of the company's outstanding debt as of Sept. 30 is affected.

A "CCC" rating is non-investment grade, also known as "junk."

Charter, a St. Louis-based cable TV operator controlled by Microsoft Corp. (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) co-founder Paul Allen, reported interest costs of $478 million for the third quarter compared with operating income of $208 million. Allen no longer works for Microsoft.

Charter's shares were trading at 13 cents apiece Thursday afternoon.

Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

The rating agency Standard & Poor's assigned an "A-" debt rating to online auctioneer eBay Inc. on Monday, citing the company's well-established Internet brand as well as strong cash flow and liquidity.

The "A-" rating is investment grade but signifies that economic conditions may affect the company's finances.

The outlook is "Positive."

In a statement, Standard & Poor's analyst Philip Schrank said, "The rating on eBay reflects its well established brands in Internet e-commerce and payment segments, coupled with strong discretionary cash flow generation and ample liquidity."

Schrank cautioned that risks remain for the San Jose, Calif.-based company on a number of fronts: its performance relies somewhat on ongoing acquisitions, it faces rising competition from traditional retailers, entry costs in its market are low and consumer spending is being pulled back amid a credit shortage.

On the positive side, he said eBay's large customer base and low working capital needs should generate stable profits and cash flow even as the economy slows.

Schrank also predicts eBay's subsidiary PayPal - which processes online payments - will grow as more financial transactions move online. He added that eBay's recent acquisition of Bill Me Later, which allows online shoppers to pay without a credit card, should dovetail well with PayPal, and start generating a profit in the "near term."

The company's stock fell with the broader market Monday, sliding 51 cents, or 3.9 percent, to $12.62.