The 98th Academy Awards drew 17.86 million viewers on ABC and Hulu, making it the least-watched Oscar telecast since 2022. That number is down 9% from last year’s 19.7 million viewers, the highest for broadcast television in five years.
The average viewer rating for the telecast among adults 18-49 was 3.92, down from 4.54 last year but up from 3.82 in 2024. Despite this year’s downturn, the 98th Academy Awards currently ranks as the No. 1 prime-time entertainment television broadcast for the 2025-2026 season, according to Disney.
The decline for Sunday night’s broadcast, hosted by Conan O’Brien, is in line with similar declines seen at other major awards shows this winter, with the Golden Globes down 6% in January (8.66 million viewers) and the Grammys down 6% in February (14.4 million viewers).
All evaluations are done by Nielsen big data and panel evaluation. The Oscars easily ranked as Sunday’s No. 1 show in viewership and across all key demos.
ABC also reported that social impressions increased by +42.4% (184,314,702) this year, with the Academy’s social platforms reaching up to 21.6 million impressions this year compared to 19.7 million last year, including more than 129 million video views throughout the night.
This represents the first decline in viewership for the ceremony in five years. Hollywood’s biggest night in 2021 saw a record low of 10.4 million viewers for the first ceremony since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic The number of viewers has increased for three consecutive years since then, reaching 16.6 million in 2022, 18.8 million in 2023, 19.5 million in 2024, and 19.7 million in 2025.
O’Brien has once again had a solid showing in hosting the Oscars for the second year in a row, and Rob Mills, Walt Disney Television’s executive vice president of unscripted and alternative entertainment, which is responsible for the Oscars telecast, told Variety on Monday morning that the job remains his for the comedian, podcaster and former late-night talk show host if he so desires.
“One Battle After Another” won six Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Paul Thomas Anderson, and “The Sinners” had a very successful night, winning four Oscars, including Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan.
Disney has two years left on its deal with the Oscars, which will continue to broadcast on ABC and Hulu in 2027 and 2028, starting with the 101st ceremony in 2029, until a new agreement between the Academy and YouTube begins (after which YouTube retains the rights until at least 2033).
Source: Nielsen National Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Evaluation on 3/15/26. 2025-2026 season (9/22/25-3/15/26). Comparison based on big data plus panel evaluation. Talkwalker Social Content Ratings, Episode-Level Linear Interactions, Twitter Trends Archive Based on US-Based Activity
