Oscars Ratings Rise 12% Over 2022—But Still Among Lowest Ever

Topline

Viewership for Sunday night’s Academy Awards broadcast on ABC rose more than 12% compared to last year, according to multiple reports, citing Nielsen data, but the 18.7 million people that watched this year’s ceremony on average is still woefully low by the program’s historical standards.

Key Facts

This year’s broadcast brought a 5% boost in the age 18-49 demographic—considered key for advertisers—while total viewership was up more than 2 million from the 16.6 million that tuned in last year.

It’s the second-straight year viewership has risen, after just 10.4 million people tuned in for the 2021 edition where the pageantry was significantly diminished due to Covid protocols.

The 2023 viewership is still the third-lowest in history—prior to a dip in the past few years, the Oscars regularly drew audiences of well over 30 million, peaking at an average of 55.2 million viewers in 1998.

Key Background

A rise in ratings was expected for this year’s Oscars for several reasons, perhaps topped by intrigue from Will Smith’s slap of Chris Rock at the 2022 event, which sparked a social media firestorm and a boost in ratings during the latter portion of last year’s broadcast. The Academy also gave several nominations to highly popular and profitable films, including Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way Of Water. But Everything Everywhere All At Once ruled the night, winning seven of the 11 awards it was nominated for, including the top honor of the night: best picture.

What We Don’t Know

There are mixed signs about whether the years-long decline in award show viewership might be starting to turn around. The 2023 Grammy Awards also had a notable ratings boost, attracting 12.5 million viewers on average, compared to 9.6 million last year, while ratings for this year’s Golden Globes cratered 26% from 2022 and September’s primetime Emmy Awards had its smallest audience ever.

Further Reading

How The 2023 Oscars Addressed Will Smith’s Chris Rock Slap—One Year Later (Forbes)

Academy Awards 2023: ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ Dominates Oscars (Forbes)

Defying Recent Award Show Trends, Grammys Audience Grows By 30% (Forbes)