Oscars Score Biggest Audience in 5 Years, Even with Smaller Films

The 97th Academy Awards pulled in 19.7 million viewers on Sunday night, marking the biggest Oscar audience in five years, according to ABC.

Despite a night dominated by smaller films like Anora—which took home five awards, including Best Picture—the viewership was still up from last year’s 19.5 million, when Oppenheimer and Barbie were the main attractions.

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What Helped Boost Ratings?

⭐ Conan O’Brien as host – His first time hosting seemed to resonate with audiences.
⭐ Big movies still had a presence – Wicked, with 10 nominations, kicked off the show with a performance by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.
⭐ Younger viewers tuned in – There was a surge in mobile and laptop viewership from the 18-49 demographic.

The show still dominates other award ceremonies, easily surpassing the Grammys (15.4 million viewers). However, Hulu’s first-time livestream of the Oscars had a last-minute glitch, cutting off before viewers could see Mikey Madison’s Best Actress win and Anora’s Best Picture moment in real-time.

While the Oscars won’t be reaching Titanic-era numbers (55 million viewers in 1998) anytime soon, this year proved that people still care about Hollywood’s biggest night—even if the movies are a little less mainstream.