The Oscars 2023 broadcast saw an increase in viewership this year, drawing an average audience of 18.7 million total viewers and a 4.0 rating among adults aged 18 to 49, according to a press release from ABC citing data from The Nielsen Company.
Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, the 95th Academy Awards outdid the Grammys on CBS and the Emmys on NBC in terms of viewership. However, despite marking a three-year high, this year’s ratings are still among the lowest in Academy Awards history.
The 1998 show, which had 55.3 million viewers, holds the record for the highest ratings. The last time the broadcast had over 20 million viewers was in 2020 when Parasite won Best Picture. The show’s lowest ratings came in 2021 when there was no host and 10.4 million people tuned in.
The Oscars broadcast competed with the season 1 finale of HBO’s hit “The Last of Us“, which according to Variety, reached a series high of 8.2 million viewers.
Despite this, Oscars producer and showrunner Glenn Weiss considered the night to be successful and praised Kimmel for doing a great job in keeping the show lighthearted and entertaining while still delivering passionate speeches from the heart.
