Oscar viewership rose slightly on Sunday, but still came in with one of the lowest numbers in the show’s 95-year history, according to initial viewership data.
About 18.7 million tuned in for Sunday’s ceremony at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, up 12% from the show’s 2022 audience, ABC said in a preliminary estimate.
Is the third year in a row the number of viewers for the Oscars increased, from an all-time low of 9.9 million in 2021 to 16.6 million last year. Still, the Academy Awards recorded 29.6 million viewers in 2019 and 23.6 million for the 2020 show that occurred weeks before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Adding intrigue to Sunday’s spectacle was the rumor created last year by Will Smith’s shocking slap to Chris Rock on the Oscars stage. 2023 host Jimmy Kimmel made multiple jokes about the incident during Sunday’s broadcast.
“We want you to have fun, we want you to feel safe, and most importantly, we want me to feel safe,” Kimmel joked during his opening monologue.
The Sunday show also featured big-name artists like Rihanna and Lady Gaga, along with widely watched movies like “Top: Gun Maverick,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Elvis,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” nominated for top honors.
Viewers witnessed history, with “Everything Everywhere All at Once” star Michelle Yeoh becoming the first Asian woman to win the best actress award.
( ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ dominates Oscars, including best picture, as ‘Indiana Jones’ stars Ke Huy Quan and Harrison Ford reunite )
An independent smash hit about a high-stakes journey through alternate dimensions, “Everything Everywhere” won seven honors, including best picture, best supporting actor for Ke Huy Quan, best supporting actress for Jamie Lee Curtis and best director for the filmmaking duo Daniel. Kwan and Daniel Scheinert.
Against the Oscar crowd, HBO simulcasted the season 1 finale of “The Last of Us,” which recorded 8.2 million viewers across all its platforms. Adapted from a popular PlayStation video game, the apocalyptic drama stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey.
with cable news services
