The biggest night in entertainment is practically over; Oppenheimer did have a bombastic performance, and the world was watching. Now, we definitely have the statistics for the night, so let’s look into the numbers, shall we?
For years, the award shows have lost their glory, especially gaining the price tag of being predictable, and that was really evident in the results. But this year’s award shows have been really consistent and probably dusting off that tag.
On ABC Sunday night, the Academy Awards accumulated a viewership of 19.5 million on live television and streaming on a domestic scale. The number is the highest in the post-COVID era.
Talking about the past, the data will be as follows:
2024: 19.5 million viewers – Highest in four years
2023: 18.8 million viewers
2022: 16.7 million viewers
2021: Data unavailable due to the ceremony being held in April due to the pandemic.
Though the ceremony of 2024 saw a hike, it is nowhere near the prime period of the award; it used to cross the 40 million threshold on a regular basis. In 1979, the number reached 55.2 million, the highest ever. Even 2020 was somewhat fruitful, grossing 23.6 million viewership, which simply proves that the show is losing interest.
There are some major factors for this major drop. Firstly, the award shows are extremely long and are stacked with performances. Though they are great in terms of quality, fans don’t really like such long programs. Secondly, social media plays a major part when it comes to the results, and people usually find it more efficient.