HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 10: (L-R) Robert Downey Jr., winner of the Best Actor in a Supporting … [+]
Another year of audience gains for The Oscars. According to the national ratings from Nielsen, the live 96th Academy Awards telecast, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and ignited by seven Oscar wins for Oppenheimer, scored 19.5 million viewers. Comparably, this marks three consecutive years of growth, with a rise of four percent from the 18.7 million in 2023.
Once the DVR usage is factored in, expect The Academy Awards to surpass 20 million viewers (with, as a result, a larger year-to-year increase).
One advantage for The Academy Awards this year, perhaps, was the surging box office tally for Oppenheimer. This story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb, is now the highest grossing film to be named Best Picture since Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2004. The estimated gross, to-date, is reported at $954 million worldwide.
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 10: (L-R) Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan, and Charles Roven, winners … [+]
Then, of course, there is also the worldwide appeal of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. The film led 2023 at the box office, with a reported $1.446 billion. Comparably, Barbie is now the 14th highest-grossing film of all time.
TOPSHOT – Ryan Gosling performs “I’m Just Ken” from “Barbie” onstage during the 96th Annual Academy … [+]
Historically, Best Picture winners that resonate at the box office translate into more tune-in for The Academy Awards. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which tallied 1.156 billion worldwide, attracted 43.5 million viewers at The Oscars the night of its victory. At the time, that was a four year high. Earlier, in 1998, Best Picture winner Titanic resulted in the Oscar viewership of a record 57.2 million viewers.
Also of benefit for The Academy Awards this year was the earlier 7 p.m. ET start. ABC is reporting that viewership peaked during the show’s final half-hour, with 21.9 million total viewers. Traditionally, HUT (Household Using Television) levels tend to rapidly decrease when primetime concludes at 11 p.m. ET. Translation: more eyeballs are readily available earlier in the evening.
While an audience of 19.5 million this year (minus the aforementioned DVR usage) still pales in comparison to these aforementioned levels, just three years earlier, in 2021, the audience plunged to an historic low 10.4 million.
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