Los Angeles: Oscars TV ratings surged for the second year in a row as 18.7 million viewers tuned in to watch the sci-fi hit ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ dominate a well-rehearsed ceremony, announced ABC channel on Monday.
With Jimmy Kimmel returning as host and a number of bona fide blockbusters among the nominated films, including ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ and ‘Avatar: Way of the Water,’ organizers hoped the 95th Academy Awards would draw audiences in. .
The average viewership figure marks a 12% increase from last year’s TV broadcast – best remembered for Will Smith slapping Chris Rock on stage.
The Oscars’ all-time low came in 2021, when a stripped-down edition of Hollywood’s biggest pandemic-era awards show drew an estimated 10 million people.
The upward trend is a welcome boost for live awards shows, which have lost more viewers as they compete for eyeballs with streamers and clips on social media.
Still, Sunday’s audience figure is the third-lowest in Oscars history.
The gala, which featured musical performances by big names from Rihanna and Lady Gaga, was generally praised by critics.
After the previous year’s infamous slap in the face, The Hollywood Reporter said Sunday’s gala – notable for several tearful speeches from the winners – was “blissfully low on drama, but moving on emotion”.
Variety called the show “familiar” but “tasteful”.
But The New York Times said the lack of significant upheaval – or on-stage violence – made the series “an innocuous shrink-wrapped exercise” that “fitted securely to the script”.
“Everything Everywhere,” a word-of-mouth hit that grossed $100 million at the global box office, scooped seven awards, including Best Picture, as its star Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian woman to win the best actress.
Yeoh plays an exhausted Chinese laundromat owner embroiled in a battle with an interdimensional supervillain – who just happens to be her daughter.
The notes released by ABC on Monday are preliminary, with final data to be released Tuesday. (AFP)