Oscars hail 12% viewership boost, making 2023 edition THIRD-WORST of all time
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA : The Oscars ratings increased by 12% from the previous year, with Jimmy Kimmel serving as host for the first time since 2018. Furthermore, according to the Nielsen time-zone-adjusted fast-national ratings, it outperformed the 3.8 rating from the previous year by 5% among important adults aged 18 to 49, scoring a 4.0 in the demo. But despite the improvement, the viewership numbers were still the third lowest ever recorded in Oscar history.
The 2023 Oscars, which were broadcasted live from 8 pm to around 11.39 pm, were also the first to be produced by the live TV production duo of Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner, who took over after several years of the Oscars being run by film producers. The 95th Academy Awards were dominated by 'Everything Everywhere All at Once', which won seven awards.
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Oscars 2023 viewership sees bump in numbers
Oscars 2023 received an average of 18.7 million viewers on Sunday. That is based on preliminary Nielsen numbers that account for out-of-home viewing and are time zone-adjusted. However, keep in mind that the final national ratings may cause this number to alter. According to similar early fast-national figures from the previous year, the 2022 ceremony had 15.36 million viewers and a 3.2 rating among adults aged 18 to 49.
The HBO season finale of the breakout hit 'The Last of Us', provided stiff competition for this year's program. On the other hand, the ceremony also benefitted more from the interests garnered by big blockbusters like 'Everything Everywhere All at Once', 'Avatar', and 'Top Gun Maverick', not to forget that fans were on the edge of their seats to see how Kimmel addresses last year's brawl caused by Will Smith's infamous slap to Chris Rock.
Oscars 2022 had come in second worst in terms of viewers
According to live and same-day Nielsen data, the 2022 show attracted 16.6 million viewers, a 58% increase from the year before. It also averaged a 3.8 rating, a 73% increase from 2021, in the important adult aged 18 to 49 demographic. The event ended up drawing 17.6 million viewers after extra time-shifted viewing in the days that followed, making it the most-watched non-sports program of the previous year. Nonetheless, despite the positive development, the 2022 Oscars show only managed to come in second worst in terms of viewers and ratings in the history of Oscars. The prestigious awards show has been trying to recover its ratings since 2021, when viewership plunged to a dismal 10.4 million.
Till date, the most viewed Oscars was the 1998 edition that saw 55.3 million people tune in to watch 'Titanic' win 'Best Picture'. The last time the Oscars scored more than 30 million viewers was in 2017, the year 'Moonlight' won, with 33 million viewers, while in 2020's pre-pandemic show, 23.6 million tuned in to see the first foreign language film 'Parasite' win the top award.
