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The
triumph of “Anora,” which won five Oscars including best
picture, and other relatively little-seen favorites and winners
still brought a lift over the 19.5 million viewers last year,
when the major hit “Oppenheimer” won the top categories and the
even bigger hit “Barbie” was a major presence.
The Conan O'Brien-hosted telecast did have the benefit of 10
nominations for the big hit “Wicked” and an opening performance
from its stars, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. The film won
for its production design and costumes.
The show had an especially big lift among people aged 18 to 49,
driven by mobile and laptop watches from younger viewers. And
the network said it was the most watched primetime entertainment
show of 2025.
Still, the upward trend comes from an all-time low during the
pandemic, and changes in viewing habits for virtually all live
events other than the Super Bowl mean the numbers the show once
had are very unlikely ever to be reached again,
A high water mark of 55 million people watched “Titanic” clean
up in 1998, and the show didn't have fewer than 30 million
viewers until 2018, when it dipped to 26.5 million. The bottom
fell out with the pandemic-diminished show in 2021, seen by 9.85
million. It began rebounding in 2022 — the year of Will Smith's
notorious slap of Chris Rock — with 16.6 million.
And Hulu's first-time livestream of this year's Oscars cut off
in the final moments of the show, making viewers miss Mikey
Madison's best actress win and the best picture win of “Anora”
in real time.
The Oscars still significantly outdraws other awards shows. Its
nearly 20 million viewers were far more than the Grammys' 15.4
million.
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