The 96th Oscars on ABC Deliver 4-Year High in Viewership
After years of seeing their viewership numbers plummet, awards shows are continuing to make a comeback.
Coming off a strong Grammy Awards, this Year’s 96th Oscars on ABC drew an average audience of 19.5 million total viewers and a 3.81 rating among Adults 19-49.
The 19.5 million viewers marked the third straight year in which the Oscars saw an increase in audience, with this year’s awards improving by nearly 1 million over last year.
Interestingly, this year’s telecast began an hour earlier than usual. The early start time may have helped increase the audience during the last hour of the broadcast. The 96th Oscars peaked in the final half-hour (which was 10:00-10:29 p.m.) with 21.9 million total viewers.
The Oscars Beat Out Other Award Shows
While award shows overall have shown stronger numbers this year, the Oscars telecast topped them all. The ABC presentation outdrew The Grammys on CBS by 14% (17.1 million on 2/4/24), The Golden Globes by 105% (9.5 million on 1/7/24), and The 75th Emmy Awards on Fox by 333% (4.5 million on 1/15/24).
In fact, the 2024 Academy Awards was the top entertainment special on any network in 4 years, with the 2020 Oscars being the last telecast to top this year’s 19.5 million total viewers.
A Strong Showing on Social Media
Last weekend’s Oscars not only delivered strong results on linear television but also saw an increase in engagement on social media.
The 96th Oscars was the No. 1 social program on Sunday, generating 28.5 million total social interactions, which was up 4% from last year’s ceremony.
Even more encouraging for ABC, the Oscars was the No. 1 entertainment program of the year to date in terms of social video consumption, with 71.8 million video views.
The awards show also dominated the conversation on X, which was the No. 1 trending topic in both the United States and across the world on Sunday.
The Walt Disney Company, who promoted the Oscars across its brands and sold out advertising for the broadcast, will surely be happy with Sunday’s results.