A lively Oscars ceremony, anchored by two bona fide Best Picture nominees in “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie,” helped boost ABC's telecast to its largest audience since 2020.
The 96th Academy Awards ceremony, Sunday, at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, on ABC, was watched by an average audience of 19.5 million viewers, an increase of 4% from 2023, according to Nielsen data. Last year's telecast attracted an average of 18.7 million viewers.
The ratings performance marks the third straight year the Oscars have grown since hitting an all-time low of 10.5 million viewers in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Oscars telecast is typically the highest-rated non-sports program of the year, but it no longer scores the 30 million or more viewers it once did. The tendency of young consumers to watch videos online has led to a decline in ratings for all live award shows in recent years.
Audiences also tune in when Academy voters celebrate smaller, arthouse films not widely known to the broader television audience.
But this year's gala, hosted by ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, was a double box-office hit for “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie.” The two films had a combined global box office revenue of $2.4 billion.
The decision to push the start of the TV broadcast one hour earlier to 4pm PT clearly didn't hurt. The program ended at approximately 10:30 p.m. for viewers on the East Coast, who in past years had to wait until midnight to watch the Best Picture award show.
The start of the broadcast was delayed for five minutes because pro-Palestinian demonstrators blocked traffic and forced some attendees to get out of their black cars and walk to the theater.
The program had two interesting moments. John Cena appeared semi-naked in a comedic tribute to the bomber who ran across the stage at the 1974 Academy Awards. Cena was presenting the costume design award.
Ryan Gosling's highly anticipated performance of “I'm Just Ken” from the movie “Barbie” was a huge triumph, thanks in part to a surprise appearance by Guns N' Roses lead guitarist Slash.
The acting categories were presented individually by five previous winners, giving the program a chance to fill the stage with more star power.
As expected, Oppenheimer was the big winner of the night, taking home seven awards, including Best Picture. The film's director, Christopher Nolan, lead actor Cillian Murphy, and supporting actor Robert Downey Jr. were honored.
Lead actress went to Emma Stone for her performance in “Poor Things.” Da'Vine Joy Randoph won the Supporting Actress category for The Holdovers.
