Neil Patrick Harris doubts he will return as Oscars host

Neil Patrick Harris has said he doubts he will ever present the Oscars again, following his much-criticised hosting of the event this year.

The actor told The Huffington Post: "I don't know that my family nor my soul could take it."

Ratings for this year's televised ceremony were down 16% on last year, and the lowest for six years.

Harris's stint as host came in for a bashing, with criticism it was flat and even "embarrassing" in places.

He had previously won plaudits for his hosting of the Tony Awards, which appeared to suit his style more having a Broadway background himself.

Asked if he read the reviews, he said: "I didn't keep up with it obsessively, but it was interesting to see just what people thought landed and didn't."

He added: "It's so difficult for one who's simply watching the show to realise just how much time and concession and compromise and explanation has gone into almost every single thing.

"And I'm not saying that to defend everything I said as if it was the absolute best choice, but it's also an award show, and you're powering through 14 acts filled with 20 plus awards.

"So my job was to try and keep things as light and specific to this year's set of films as possible. And if people are critical of that, it's a big giant platform, so I would assume that they would be."

The blame for low ratings has been been partly blamed on the lack of blockbuster movies up for the big prizes, with the contenders including Birdman and Boyhood considered more arthouse than mainstream.