This year’s Oscars, which celebrated the independent film “Anora,” had about 18.1 million viewers on TV and streaming, as reported by ABC on Monday. This is a 7% drop from last year’s Oscar ceremony, which attracted 19.5 million viewers who came to see the blockbuster film “Oppenheimer” win Best Picture. However, viewership among adults under 50 actually went up by 3%.
“Anora” is a unique fairy tale about a sex worker and a Russian oligarch’s son. It won Best Picture and four other awards at the ceremony, making $40 million worldwide, while “Oppenheimer” made nearly $976 million.
Comedian Conan O’Brien hosted the Oscars for the first time and received praise from TV critics. The show lasted almost four hours and mostly stayed away from politics. Owen Gleiberman of Variety said, “O’Brien absolutely rocked his debut, balancing humor perfectly.”
The Oscars aired live on ABC and were also streamed on Hulu. Some people faced problems with the Hulu stream, with reports of it cutting off just before the Best Actress and Best Picture awards.
In recent years, fewer people have been watching Hollywood awards shows as many switch to streaming and social media. This year’s Oscars had 104.2 million interactions online, outshining other events like the Grammy Awards and the Super Bowl.
The biggest Oscar telecast was in 1998 when “Titanic” won many awards, attracting over 57 million viewers. The lowest ratings were in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, with only 10.5 million viewers.
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