The98th Oscarshosted byConan O'Briensaw a dip in ratings after several years of gains. The Walt Disney Co. on Tuesday said that just under 17.9 million viewers tuned into Sunday's show, which aired live on ABC and was streamed on Hulu.
98th Academy Awards - Show
The ratings are down 9% from last year's post-pandemic high of19.7 million viewerswho tuned in for O'Brien's inaugural year as host, when "Anora" swept the awards. The show also yielded a more significant 14% decline from last year in viewership from adults aged 18-49.
Sunday's Oscars saw a showdown between two Warner Bros. films, "One Battle After Another" and "Sinners," with the formerwinning best picture and director. Michael B. Jordan won best actor for "Sinners," the most nominated film in history, with 16, that also broke the record for the most losses by a single film, with 12.
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And yet despite the dip in audience, the Oscars are still the No. 1 primetime entertainment telecast of the 2025-2026 season. The Golden Globes, which aired on CBS in January, drew an audience of8.7 million viewerswhich was itself down 7% from the year prior.
Engagement for the Oscars rose by other metrics, though. Primetime social impressions went up over 42% this year. And there were over 129 million video views on Academy social platforms throughout the night.
The Oscars, like many other awards shows, saw an all-time low in 2021 during the pandemic with only 10.4 million viewers. At its height in the 1990s it often attracted around 45 million viewers. Its peak came in 1998, when "Titanic" won best picture and 57.2 million people watched.
Broadcast ratings will no longer be a metric of the success for the Oscars in 2029, when the showmoves to YouTubefor its 101st awards.