The Impact of “Barbenheimer” on Oscars Ratings
The recent Oscars ceremony saw a slight increase in viewership, with an estimated 19.5 million people tuning in to watch the 96th Academy Awards on ABC. This marks the highest number of viewers the telecast has seen in four years, but it’s important to note that this increase comes after an all-time low during the pandemic. The viewership was only up by 4% from last year’s estimated audience of 18.7 million, as reported by ABC.
One of the key factors that contributed to this rise in ratings was the Academy’s decision to start the show an hour earlier. Additionally, the nominations for popular movies like “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” attracted a larger audience, as viewers were more familiar with these films. The peak viewership was observed in the final half hour of the show, coinciding with Ryan Gosling’s performance of ”I’m Just Ken” from “Barbie” and the multiple wins by “Oppenheimer” in major categories.
In the past, the Oscars were typically the second most-watched television program of the year, following the Super Bowl. However, the viewership numbers have fluctuated over the years. The telecast had never dipped below 30 million viewers until 2018, with the highest recorded viewership being 55 million for “Titanic” in 1998. From 2014’s 43.7 million viewers, the numbers steadily declined to 26.5 million in 2018, before picking back up to 29.6 million in 2019, and dropping again to 23.6 million in 2020. The pandemic-stricken show in 2021 was watched by 9.85 million viewers, but the ratings began to recover in 2022, reaching 16.6 million viewers — the year of the infamous Slap moment.
For more in-depth coverage of this year’s Academy Awards, you can visit: https://apnews.com/hub/academy-awards.