What were 2024 Oscars’ TV ratings? How does audience compare to previous years?

Sunday’s Oscars drew the film awards ceremony’s highest domestic television audience in four years, but remained well short of the viewership figures it used to garner.

2024 Oscars close to hitting 20m US viewers

According to data released by TV ratings specialists Nielsen on Monday, the 96th Academy Awards averaged 19.5 million viewers in the United States, where the gala was broadcast by ABC for the 49th year in a row.

ABC’s 2024 audience represents a ratings uptick for the third year in succession, but is nonetheless the fourth lowest on record for the Academy Awards, which have not crossed the 20-million threshold since 2020′s Oscars averaged 23.6 million US viewers.

The event fell to an all-time-low average of 10.4 million in 2021, before rising to 16.6 million in 2022 and 18.7 million last year.

In the past, the Oscars routinely attracted over 40 million TV viewers in the US, hitting a record average of 55.25 million in 1998. Audiences have declined since the turn of the millennium, however. Indeed, the last time the gala managed more than 40 million viewers was a decade ago, when 2014′s Academy Awards averaged 43.7 million.

Did Oscars’ 4pm start boost audience?

In a bid to improve the Oscars’ ailing TV audience, organisers opted to move the 2024 awards’ start time forward to 4pm PT/7pm ET - an hour earlier than in previous years.

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s event, showrunners told the Hollywood Reporter that the switch was aimed at ensuring the ceremony finished within primetime on the US’ east coast, which is three hours ahead of the west. “We think there are a lot of benefits to the earlier start time,” ABC’s Raj Kapoor told an interview with the media outlet.

In UK, ITV outstrips Sky’s Oscars audience

Earlier on Monday, the Academy received positive ratings news from the UK, where Sunday’s gala was reportedly watched by an average of nearly 640,000.

According to figures reported by Broadcast magazine, the average viewership for ITV’s coverage of the 2024 Oscars was 637,000, with a peak audience of 1.9 million. In the first year since ITV replaced Sky as the ceremony’s British broadcaster, this represents a significant viewership increase in the UK: 2023′s Oscars were watched by an average of just 95,000 Brits.

Audience is likely to have been bolstered by the fact that ITV is free to air, while Sky requires a paid subscription. What’s more, British viewers will have been encouraged to watch by the Oscars’ 4pm PT start. Allied with a shortened time difference between the UK and the US, that translated into a more manageable 11pm kick-off for UK Oscars viewers.

America’s west coast is usually eight hours behind the UK, but with the States switching to daylight saving time this weekend - three weeks before Britain’s clocks move forward - the difference is currently seven hours.

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Oppenheimer wins big at 96th Oscars

Hosted by comedian Jimmy Kimmel, the 2024 Oscars were dominated by the blockbuster biopic Oppenheimer, which secured seven statuettes, including Best Picture. Christopher Nolan scooped Best Director for the film, while its star, Cillian Murphy, was named Best Actor.

Meanwhile, Poor Things’ Emma Stone was the surprise winner of the Best Actress award, the 35-year-old collecting the gong for the second time in her career. Lily Gladstone, who starred in the Martin Scorsese epic Killers of the Flower Moon, had been the bookmakers’ favourite to win Best Actress.