Oscar ratings: Nearly 20 million watch ‘Anora’ clean up, a 5-year high
After initial ratings numbers indicated a decline from the past two years, Nielsen has announced that the Conan O'Brien-hosted 97th Academy Awards were actually watched by 19.7 million people. Not only is that not a three-year low, it happens to be the highest number posted by the ceremony since the pandemic.
In 2021, during a ceremony that was retooled for COVID safety reasons, the Oscars only managed an audience of 10.4 million. The 2022 number was 16.6 million. Then in 2023 the show was viewed by 18.8 million. And in 2024 the telecast drew 19.5 million. So the Oscars have shown continued growth every year for five years. But compare all those ratings figures to the 23.6 million people who watched in 2019, right before the lockdowns. That was an all-time low at the time, so the Oscars are still struggling to return to their pre-COVID ratings luster.
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This year's Oscar telecast managed to increase its numbers despite glitches on Hulu, where the ceremony streamed live in addition to ABC's linear television broadcast. And ratings also rose despite lacking a cultural phenomenon like Barbenheimer, which likely contributed to 2024's numbers. Glicked tried to recapture that magic when Wicked and Gladiator II opened on the same day last fall, but it didn't quite catch on, and Gladiator only ended up with a costume nom from the Academy.
Ultimately, Anora won the top prize, along with Best Director (Sean Baker), Best Actress (Mikey Madison), Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing. That low-budget film is among the lowest grossing Best Picture winners in modern history, but that wasn't a problem for viewers. This year's Grammys, which aired exactly one month earlier, were down by nine percent despite finally bestowing Album of the Year on Beyoncé, one of the world's biggest music stars, so the fact that the Oscars managed to tick up slightly is impressive.
See all of Sunday night's winners here.
Update: A previous version of this article referenced the initial ratings figures announced March 3. It has been updated with the final same-day Nielsen figures released on March 4.
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