UPDATED 10:29 AM: If only the Oscars themselves moved as fast as the number counters at ABC.
Just minutes after the Fast affiliate dates for the 94th Academy Awards were released, the Disney-owned network, which pays tens of millions each year to air Hollywood’s biggest but bumpy night, was up with the adjusted Fast Nationals the end.
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Moving slightly up from the preliminary data, it is estimated that the 2022 Oscars had 15.4 million viewers and earned a 2.9 rating among adults 18-49 years old.
Apples to apples by the same metrics, that’s a 56% increase in viewership over last year and up 68% for the all-important demo. Yet even with seemingly big jumps from 2021, the 2022 Oscars are still the second-lowest in history.
ABC plans to update again on Tuesday with the final Live + Same Day National numbers and no doubt some streaming and other platforms as well. We will of course update when we get the update.
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SO FAR, 10:10 AM: Last night’s notoriety for the 94th Academy Awards seemed to stem almost entirely from organizers and producers’ decisions to slash the awarding of eight so-called below-the-line categories to push the show forward with a faster clip and more On-air star power.
(L-R) Ariana DeBose, Troy Kotsur and Jessica Chastain AP
Near-stunning historic victories by CODA and actor Troy Kotsur, Power of the Dog director Jane Campion and West Side Story’s Ariana DeBose, the enduring disgrace of the 2022 Oscars will now, of course, be Will Smith’s insane slap in the face by Chris Rock for being insensitive to Jada Pinkett mocked Smith’s hair and the Academy do nothing for the eventual Best Actor winner.
And after all that, the Will Packer and Shayla Cowan-produced ceremony still lasted over three and a half hours on ABC and an hour off-camera for those neglected craft awards.
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Still, the ultimate goal was to capture the least-watched and lowest-rated Oscars of all time from last year’s pandemic protocols hybrid affair, to justify the Disney-owned network’s $100 million annual royalties It pays off in the long run -fighting event hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
In that sense, Sunday’s show, hosted by Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer and Regina Hall, was a certain success.
According to initial figures from Nielsen, the 8pm-11pm ET portion of the Oscars attracted 13.7 million viewers and earned a rating of 2.9 among adults 18-49 years old. That’s the second-lowest Oscar total ever, surpassed only by last year’s dismal data.
Employ the best spin cycle possible, that’s a 39% increase in initial metrics over the eyeballs that saw the 93rd Unhosted Academy Awards on April 25, 2021. In terms of the still-lucrative demographic, the 2022 Oscars beat the 2021 Oscars by 53%.
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Flipped around and taking the pandemic somewhat out of the mix, viewership for the 94th Academy Awards fell from that of the 92nd Academy Awards by significant double digits of over around 40%. To give some context to how far the Oscars have fallen over the past 25 years, the 1998 Oscars, where Titanic won best picture, was watched by 55.3 million people. That’s the highest ever for the nearly hundred-year-old show.
However, these Fast Affiliates for this year’s Oscars are not adjusted for West Coast viewing and are sure to increase when more accurate Fast Nationals are released later in the day. Those numbers encompass the last nearly 40 minutes of the show, which aired after 11 p.m. ET, aka when things got violent, the internet exploded and Smith delivered a heartfelt but misinterpreted acceptance speech for his King Richard win.
The 2021 Oscars ended with around 10.4 million viewers and a 2.1 rating for their show from 8 p.m. to 11:10 p.m. ET.
Check out the ratings for all the Oscarcasts since 2001 below.
Beyond the 94th Academy Awards, Sunday prime time has been fairly regular at 60 minutes (1.4, 8.64M), beating both ratings and audiences. The CBS newscast was up in demo but slightly down in viewership from the previous week. After 60 Minutes, CBS announced two new episodes of NCIS: Los Angeles (0.6, 5.43M/0.5, 4.92M).
NBC aired a repeat of American Song Contest, followed by a new episode of Transplant (0.1, 0.93M), while Fox aired its signature animation dominance roster. All of Fox’s titles have been stable. Riverdale (0.1, 0.25m) on The CW matched the previous week exactly. March fizzled out with its finale, earning a demo rating of 0.0 and airing to less than 100,000 viewers.
We’ll update with more Oscars metrics from ABC as they come in.
In the meantime, for a broader 21st-century context of the Oscar bloodbath, check out the list of TV shows from the past two decades:
2021: 10.4 million, Nomandland (no host)
2020: 23.6 million, parasite (no host)
2019: 29.6 million, Green Book (no host)
2018: 26.5 million, The Shape of Water (Jimmy Kimmel)
2017: 32.9 million, Moonlight (Jimmy Kimmel)
2016: 34.4 million, Spotlight (Chris Rock)
2015: 37.3 million, Birdman (Neil Patrick Harris)
2014: 43.7 million, 12 year slave (Ellen DeGeneres)
2013: 40.3 million, Argo (Seth MacFarlane)
2012: 39.3 million, The Artist (Billy Crystal)
2011: 37.9 million, The King’s Speech (Anne Hathaway/James Franco)
2010: 41.3 million, The Hurt Locker (Steve Martin/Alec Baldwin)
2009: 36.3 million, Slumdog millionaire (Hugh Jackman)
2008: 32.0 million, No Country for Old Men (Jon Stewart)
2007: 40.2 million, The Departed (Ellen DeGeneres)
2006: 38.9 million, crash (Jon Stewart)
2005 $42.1 million baby (Chris Rock)
2004: 43.5 million, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Billy Crystal)
2003: 33.0 million, Chicago (Steve Martin)
2002: 41.8 million, A Beautiful Mind (Whoopi Goldberg)
2001: 42.9 million, Gladiator (Steve Martin)