The 95th annual Academy Awards saw a 12% increase in viewership from 2022, a marked improvement but still far from a ratings revival.
The 2023 ceremony took place Sunday at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood and resulted in the biggest audience any awards show has seen in the past three years, according to CNN. The gains are welcome in an industry that was showing signs of diminished interest before the pandemic, coupled with dismal viewership during COVID times. ABC and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are seeing gains, but hopes that awards shows would regain significant ratings in a post-pandemic world are seemingly all but dashed.
Jimmy Kimmels Oscars
Here’s a look at the ratings over the last decade:
• 2013: 40.3 million
• 2014: 43.7 million
• 2015: 37.3 million
• 2016: 34.4 million
• 2017: 32.9 million
• 2018: 26.5 million
• 2019: 29.6 million
• 2020: 23.6 million
• 2021: 10.4 million… https://t.co/01yMYhUzqr pic.twitter.com/iRuvKwb4fm— Antonio Sabato Jr (@AntonioSabatoJr) March 14, 2023
Nielsen data indicates 18.7 million viewers tuned in to the 2023 Oscars broadcast, compared to a record low of 10.5 million viewers in 2021, CNN reported. Viewership in 2022 increased by 60% from the year prior, but that accomplishment pales in light of the fact that a 60% increase still marks the second-worst ratings in the history of the show, according to the outlet.
The number of viewers tuning in to the ceremony visibly plummeted from prior years in 2020, when 23.6 million tuned in.
Oscars 2023 see ratings bounce, hit 3-year high https://t.co/uuhuiQgVTn pic.twitter.com/XHw5cMwQA8
— New York Post (@nypost) March 14, 2023
The Academy was reportedly counting on blockbuster movies such as “Avatar: The Way of Water” and “Top Gun: Maverick” to revive the industry’s ratings and spark new interest among Oscars viewers around the globe.
Prior to the Oscars, the public proved its love of “Top Gun: Maverick” in theaters. Box office sales soared with the release of the movie starring Tom Cruise. (RELATED: The Golden Globes TV Ratings Are In. It’s A Bloodbath)
Steven Spielberg himself credited the film with “saving … theatrical distribution,” but the box office success apparently wasn’t enough to generate sizable interest into the Oscars broadcast Sunday.