The 96th Oscars on ABC drew 19.5 million viewers, up 37% from last year and the highest in four years.
ABC gave partial credit to the bigger numbers to the earlier start time of the broadcast. It didn’t hurt that films like Best Picture Oppenheimer and Barbie were huge box-office hits.
Viewing peaked in the final half-hour with 21.9 million total viewers.
The broadcast had a 3.81 rating among adults 18 to 49, according to fast national data from Nielsen.
ABC said the Oscars’ audience was 14% bigger than the Grammys 105% higher than The Golden Globes and 333% higher than the Emmy Awards.
The Oscars were followed on ABC by an episode of Abbott Elementary, which scored a series high with 6.9 million total viewers and a 1.42 rating among adults 18-49.
