Following Will Smith’s infamous slap on Chris Rock last year, viewership for the Oscars 2023 broadcast increased this year.
According to an ABC press release citing preliminary Nielsen data, the 95th Academy Awards broadcast, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, drew an average audience of 18.7 million total viewers and a 4.0 rating among adults 18 to 49. This represents a 12% increase in total viewers over last year’s total of 16.7 million.
According to the press release, the Oscars broadcast outperformed the Grammys on CBS (12.5 million viewers) in February and the Emmys on NBC (5.9 million viewers) in September. The Golden Globes, which returned to NBC after a year away, drew 6.3 million viewers in January.
The Oscars were up against the season one finale of HBO’s hit The Last of Us, which, according to Variety, set a new series high in terms of ratings: The ninth episode drew an estimated 8.2 million viewers.
While this year’s numbers are a three-year high, they remain among the lowest in Academy Awards history. According to Variety, the highest ratings came in 1998, when James Cameron’s blockbuster Titanic won Best Picture with 55.3 million viewers. The last time the broadcast had more than 20 million viewers was in 2020, when Parasite won Best Picture, with 23.6 million tuning in.
According to Deadline, the lowest ratings came in 2021 when there was no host, when 10.4 million people tuned in.
Glenn Weiss, Oscars producer and showrunner, told The Hollywood Reporter after the show Sunday night about his expectations for the ratings.
“You can only hope, you know. “What we wanted to do was go out and execute a show that people would enjoy and talk about,” he explained. “We believe we were successful. I’m hoping for good ratings news on Monday, but in any case, I think it was a successful evening.”
Weiss went on to say that he is proud of “the entire night,” and he praised Kimmel, 55, who hosted for the third time.
