The 94th Academy Awards drew a larger audience than they did at the less-watched Academy Awards last year. However, the Sunday Show is still significantly lower than in years past as watching TV and going to the movies has undergone drastic changes recently.
ABC radio for a file Oscars It drew 15.36 million viewers and rated 3.2 among adults 18-49, according to Nielsen’s time zone-adjusted National Rapid Rankings (early unadjusted numbers the show was at 13.73 million viewers and 2.9 in the main ad demographic). It doesn’t include out-of-home viewing – although it will be rolled over to final numbers on the same day which will be released on Tuesday morning – or live broadcasts. You will usually (though not always) see live broadcasts adjust their ratings up after taking these elements into account.
However, the early numbers put Sunday’s show well ahead of the final numbers from last year’s mini-party, which was All-time lowest 10.4 million viewers and 2.12 in the 18-49 age group. Time zone-adjusted numbers show a 48 percent jump in total viewers and 51 percent in adults 18-49 over last year’s finals, and 56 percent gains in viewers and 68 percent in demo compared to similar numbers last year (9.85 million) and 1.9).
The Academy Awards join several other award shows in stemming steep drops in ratings from the 2020-21 season — though none of them reached anywhere near viewing heights before the pandemic. Both the Emmys and the SAG Awards have made big gains during their recent tours, and the CMA Awards and American Music Awards (both on ABC) have been either flat or slightly higher than last year.
Despite annual improvements, Sunday’s Oscars will drop to the second-lowest-viewed place since Nielsen began tracking total viewers in the mid-1970s. Before last year, the number of viewers never went below 20 million.
ABC’s TV broadcast sparked a massive reaction on social media when Will Smith walked on stage and Chris Rock presenter slapped After the comedian made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. That came about two-thirds of the way through the 3 hour 40 minute party, at which time the audience was with the show for 2 1/2 hours. (Data from analytics company Samba TV shows that the Oscars audience peaked about an hour ago.)
bookmark THR.com/Ratings For more news, ratings and numbers.
March 28, 10:25 am Updated with time zone adjusted ratings.
