Adding further evidence that there are still signs of life on linear TV for live events, Sunday’s Conan O’Brien-hosted Oscars broke a new five-year ratings record for an Academy Awards broadcast.
Although preliminary ratings released Monday suggested a slight drop in Oscars viewership year-over-year, restated numbers issued today showed a slight uptick instead, with Nielsen reporting that an average 19.7 million total viewers tuned in Sunday night, up from last year’s 19.5 million.
It’s the latest bit of encouraging news for broadcast networks, who’ve recently seen live event programming like The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and The Super Bowl attract record audiences.
There have even been glimmers of hope on the late night front, with SNL enjoying an up year for ratings (and that’s not counting the 220 million who watched some portion of the show’s primetime anniversary special), and shows like The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and The Daily Show drawing larger audiences after live news and sporting events.
Without a “Barbenheimer” to draw more mainstream viewers to this year’s Oscar broadcast, many were expecting year-over-year ratings declines. That the show managed to grow its audience even ever so slightly is more good news for Conan O’Brien, whose performance as Oscars host has been widely praised.
As we reported yesterday, Rob Mills, ABC’s executive in charge of the Oscars, all but officially invited O’Brien to host again, saying “That’s really up to Conan.”
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