The Oscars drew 18.7 million viewers

March 14, 2023

At the 95th Academy Awards, not all viewers were everywhere at the same time – but the TV audience was 12 percent higher than last year.

Sunday’s Oscars, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, was a no-brainer but still a hit for ABC.

The 95th Academy Awards drew a total of 18.7 million viewers, according to Nielsen, a 12 percent increase from last year, the largest audience for the awards ceremony in three years. Among adults 18-49, those Oscars rose 5 percent (from 3.8 last year to 4.0 last night). These are what Nielsen calls the “Fast National” numbers – we should get the final numbers with a slight upward correction on Tuesday.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” won best picture and six other awards: best director and best original screenplay for writer-director duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, best actress for Michelle Yeoh, best supporting actress for Jamie Lee Curtis, Best Supporting Actor Ke Huy Quan and Best Film Editing.

The full list of winners can be found here; IndieWire’s coverage of the 2023 Oscars can be found here.

Last year’s Oscars, which will always be remembered for Will Smith’s Chris Rock host, averaged 16.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen — a huge improvement over 2021, but still the second-lowest Oscars ever. Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes hosted the 2022 show; the previous three years passed without a farmer.

Last year’s Oscars were watched by 15.4 million, according to Nielsen’s fast national data.

Rock finally addressed the Smith slap during a live Netflix stand-up comedy special last Saturday, which he made at the expense of Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Read IndieWire’s review of the material here.

Last night, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” received the most nominations, 11. “The Banshees of Inisherin” and “All Quiet on the Western Front” received nine nominations. “Banshees” were completely ruled out.

Best Picture nominees are “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Elvis,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “The Fabelmans,” “LIBRARY” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Triangle of Sadness,” and “Women Talking.”

Janelle Monáe and Kate Hudson speak on stage at the 95th Annual Academy Awards

Getty Images

The Oscars on April 25, 2021 had a nightmarish 10.5 million viewers. Fourteen and a half months earlier, before Covid, the Oscars on February 9, 2020 had a total of 23.6 million viewers. at the time this was a record low.

The most watched Academy Awards ever was in 1998 when “Titanic” won Best Picture. It broke the 1995 record of 48.3 million viewers, when “Forrest Gump” bested “Pulp Fiction” and “Shawshank Redemption” (as well as “The Quiz Show” and “Four Weddings and a Funeral”). for the final trophy of the evening.

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