Oscars Audience Tally Up To 21M In Delayed Multi-Platform Viewing

The results are in, and the Oscars hit a four-year audience high after seven days of viewing.

In the week since the 96th annual ceremony, ABC has tallied another 1.5M or so viewers, bringing the grand total to 21.01M. Up 5% from last year, this marks the largest multi-platform audience for the Oscars since the 2020 broadcast, which happened right before the COVID-19 pandemic.

In terms of the 18-49 demo, the show scored a 4.35 rating in MP+7. This data includes viewing on streaming, as well.

Previously, Nielsen reported that about 19.5M live+same-day viewers tuned in to watch the Oscars, which was already a four-year high for the show with an increase of 4% over last year’s same-day audience.

There are several likely reasons for the small bump in viewership that pushed the tally over the edge, including the fact that the 2024 Oscars saw blockbusters like Christopher Nolan’s bio of the man who created the atom bomb and Greta Gerwig’s Barbie as serious main contenders — a rarity in recent years of big movies being up for big prizes.

This year’s ceremony also started an hour earlier, which helped keep the show in primetime and likely drew more people from the east coast who didn’t have to stay up until near midnight to catch Best Picture.

Also, viewership has been on a steady incline over the past several years, rising quite heftily from the hostless 2021 Oscars, which drew an audience of 10.4 million.

Jimmy Kimmel was back for the fourth time as ABC’s tried-and-true host for the evening, where Oppenheimer and Poor Things were the night’s most decorated films. Oppenheimer took home Best Picture, as well as Best Director and Best Actor for Christopher Nolan and Cillian Murphy, respectively. Meanwhile, Emma Stone nabbed Best Actress for her role as Bella Baxter in Poor Things.

More on those winners here. Check out Deadline’s review of the 96th Academy Awards here too.