Earlier ‘Oscar’ Telecast Draws 4-Year High With 19.5 Million Viewers

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Audience peaked during last half-hour with 21.9 million viewers

Jimmy Kimmel on stage at the 96th Oscars.
Host Jimmy Kimmel on stage at the 96th Oscars. (Image credit: Disney/Frank Micelotta)

The 96th Oscars on ABC drew 19.5 million viewers, up 37% from last year and the highest in four years.

ABC gave partial credit to the bigger numbers to the earlier start time of the broadcast. It didn’t hurt that films like Best Picture Oppenheimer and Barbie were huge box-office hits.

Viewing peaked in the final half-hour with 21.9 million total viewers.

The broadcast had a 3.81 rating among adults 18 to 49, according to fast national data from Nielsen. 

ABC said the Oscars’ audience was 14% bigger than the Grammys 105% higher than The Golden Globes and 333% higher than the Emmy Awards.

The Oscars were followed on ABC by an episode of Abbott Elementary, which scored a series high with 6.9 million total viewers and a 1.42 rating among adults 18-49.

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.