The live event TV renaissance carries on.
According to Nielsen, the 96th Academy Awards presentation on ABC on Sunday attracted 19.5 million viewers, a four-year high. For the third year in a row, the number of people watching the Oscars live on TV increased from 18.8 million to this year’s audience of 20 million.
Thanks to the ratings report, ABC and the Academy will be celebrating as they moved the start of the legendary awards event to 7 p.m. Eastern, an hour earlier than normal, to draw in more people for the final categories.
Both that strategy and the multiple nominations for the popular movies “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” seemed to be successful; in previous years, the ceremony was dominated by more obscure films. In his fourth hosting appearance, Jimmy Kimmel garnered positive reviews as well, coming just one win short of tying Johnny Carson, another late-night celebrity who doubled as an Oscar presenter.
According to Nielsen, the Oscars on Sunday night were the highest-viewed network awards show since February 2020, continuing a recent trend of increased viewer interest in the kind of large-scale cultural events that were difficult to attend during the pandemic.
16.9 million viewers watched the Grammy Awards in February, a 34% increase over the previous year. The number of people watching the Golden Globes in January increased by 50% over the previous year. With 123.7 million viewers, the Kansas City Chiefs vs. San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl broke ratings records. Even the 2023 Tony Awards, which are usually the least watched of the “EGOT” quartet, had a slight increase in ratings.
Billie Eilish sang her pop ballad “What Am I Made For?” and Ryan Gosling gave a playful yet heartfelt rendition of “I’m Just Ken” during Sunday’s Oscars. The thrash-rock guitarist Slash had an appearance, and several supporting Kens from “Barbie,” notably Simu Liu, supplemented the choreography, which was inspired by Busby Berkeley films and the Marilyn Monroe musical “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.”
ABC, which will broadcast the Oscars through 2028, said that it had sold out of all of its commercial slots for the ceremony on Sunday.
Advertising professionals claimed that ABC had charged $1.7 million to $2.2 million for a 30-second spot, up marginally from the previous year, although the network did not disclose the costs. A few of the advertisements appeared during the show itself, such as one for Don Julio tequila in which Kimmel’s sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez gave the drink to famous people in the audience.
Just 10.4 million people watched the epidemic Oscars in 2021, which were staged in a train station in Los Angeles with little decorations. A portion of the spike in viewership to 16.6 million in 2022 came from the odd spectacle of Will Smith slapping Chris Rock.
Nevertheless, there’s no denying that people’s viewing habits have evolved. The Oscars telecast had never received fewer than 32 million viewers before to 2018.
