ABC’s Oscars Audience Rises 12% to 18.7 Million Viewers: Nielsen

Brendan Fraser wins the Oscar for Best Actor (Image credit: ABC)

The 95th Oscars telecast on ABC drew an average audience of 18.7 million total viewers, up 12% from a year ago, according to Nielsen fast national ratings.

Viewership for the awards show grew for the second straight year and was the highest since 2020, but still well below the pre-streaming era, when the Academy Awards could be counted on to deliver 30 million homes.

The show generated a 4 rating among adults 18 to 49 years old, up 5%, Nielsen said.

The Oscars was the most-watched awards show on any network since 2020, topping The Grammy Awards and the Emmy Awards.

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According to Vizio’s Inscape data unit, The Oscars delivered 5.67% of all minutes watched on March 12, the most of any program.

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Combined with red-carpet shows and other shoulder programming, The Oscars accounted for 7.52% of watch hours, nearly double the No. 2 show, The Players Championship golf tournament.

With The Oscars, ABC had 10.18% of minutes watched on Sunday and Saturday as well, Inscape said. ■

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.