Sunday’s Oscars drew a median of 19.5 million whole viewers, in response to Nielsen numbers, essentially the most since COVID. The February 9, 2020 Academy Awards averaged 23.6 million viewers, which on the time was an all-time low.
The 2024 Academy Awards on ABC started at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, an hour sooner than each Oscars in (no less than) latest reminiscence. The early begin time may have gone both manner. The optimistic spin is that extra potential viewers have been awake; on the flip aspect, fairly a number of viewers could have inadvertently joined late.
The evening belonged to “Oppenheimer” and “Poor Things,” trophies-wise, however to “Barbie’s” Ryan Gosling in terms of buzz. “Oppenheimer” received seven statuettes together with Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr., Best Actor for Cillian Murphy, Best Director for Christopher Nolan, and Best Picture. Find all the winners here.
The Best Picture nominees have been: “American Fiction,” “Anatomy of a Fall,” “Barbie,” “The Holdovers,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Maestro,” “Oppenheimer,” “Past Lives,” “Poor Things,” and “The Zone of Interest.”
“Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Maestro” have been each shut out, and “Barbie” received only one award — Best Original Song (“What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish) — out of eight nominations.
IndieWire’s TV critic Ben Travers loved the present. Travers, like everybody, liked Gosling’s all-in stay efficiency of “I’m Just Ken” — however he additionally singled out John Mulaney’s “Field of Dreams” rant and John Cena’s Oscars-streaker bit as highlights of the Sunday evening telecast. Travers was not very impressed by Kimmel’s fourth flip as Academy Awards host, although he appreciated an impromptu Donald Trump takedown — learn Ben’s evaluation here, he gave the present a “B-” grade.
The 2023 Academy Awards, additionally hosted by Kimmel, averaged 18.8 million viewers. “Everything Everywhere All at Once” was the big winner in ’23. The ’22 Oscars have been those when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage; the present was hosted by Regina Hall, Amy Schumer, and Wanda Sykes.
The most-watched Academy Awards ever got here in 1998, when “Titanic” received Best Picture and the present averaged 55.2 million viewers. The all-time low got here in 2021; the primary Oscars after the COVID pandemic started (within the U.S., no less than) drew simply 10.5 million whole viewers.
After the 2024 Oscars, a brand new “Abbott Elementary” episode reached 6.9 million viewers — a collection excessive.
