Updated Nielsen numbers reveal that the ratings for Sunday’s 97th Oscars ceremony in fact climbed 1% over 2024 to reach a five-year high of 19.69m viewers, including mobile, PCs and tablets.
The additional 1.65m count, capturing what is believed to be a significant number of young viewers, were not reflected in the fast national figures reported on Monday. The five-year high reflects total viewers and adults in the 18-49 bracket on a 4.54 rating, which marks a 19% gain on last year’s 3.82 rating.
The adults 18-34 bracket delivered a six-year high and increased 28% over 2024’s 3.05 rating.
As previously reported, Sunday’s show at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood hosted for the first time by Conan O’Brien earned 104.2m total social interactions, outperforming The Grammys and The Super Bowl earlier this year.
ORINGINAL REPORT: US ratings for the 97th Academy Awards averaged 18.1m people on Sunday (March 2), a drop of 7% from the 2024 ceremony, according to Nielsen data.
The figures combine both the live broadcast on ABC as well as live streams on Hulu. The latter hosted the show on its platform for the first time this year but reportedly experienced several technical difficulties, leading to disruptions in the live stream.
This year, viewership dropped for the first time after a steady increase following the 2021 Covid-era ceremony, which was watched by an all-time low of 10.4 million people.
The 2024 Oscars reached a four-year high of 19.5m - the year of the Barbenheimer behemoth which saw the latter (Oppenheimer) walk away with seven prizes.
Despite the decrease, this year’s Oscars was still the most-watched entertainment telecast of the 2024-25 TV season so far in the US. Nielsen data also reported that the highest viewership was among adults between 18-49 years old (3.92 rating), with those aged 18-34 bringing in the highest ratings in five years (3.17).
Over on social media, the Conan O’Brien-hosted event earned 104.2 million social interactions, ahead of both the Grammy Awards and the Super Bowl, which took place earlier this year.
The 97th Oscars saw Sean Baker’s Anora lead the charge with five awards including best picture. The show opened with a medley from Wicked stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.
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