Oscars audience tops 15 million, exceeding last year
ABC News
The television audience for the Academy Awards appears to be up from last year's record low, but is still not at the level that the annual awards show is accustomed to
NEW YORK -- Television ratings for the Oscars rebounded somewhat from last year's record low, but the event clearly doesn't have the appeal to viewers that it once had.
Sunday's ceremony reached an estimated 15.36 million viewers, according to preliminary Nielsen company numbers released on Monday by ABC. A more detailed estimate is expected Tuesday, with elements like out-of-home viewing added.
“CODA” won best picture in Sunday's ceremony, but all of the winners and losers were overshadowed by best actor winner Will Smith storming the stage to slap comic Chris Rock because of a joke Rock made about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
Held in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 ceremony had reached a startlingly low 9.85 million viewers. That led to several changes in the Oscars going into this year, including the addition of hosts and awarding eight categories ahead of the broadcast and editing them into the live show.
