SUNDAY’S Oscarcast made some modest ratings gains over last year.
ABC’s coverage of the 81st Annual Academy Awards averaged 36.3 million viewers – up 4.3 million viewers from last year’s historically low viewership, when 32 million tuned in with host Jon Stewart in the midst of the writers’ strike.
The uptick in viewership defied expectations, since last year wasn’t exactly a bonanza at the box office.
As expected, Sunday’s telecast was the year’s most-watched entertainment telecast.
It also pulled in a whopping 24 million more viewers than last September’s Emmy Awards, and registered a surprising 22 percent spike in men 18-34 – traditionally the toughest demo to attract to this particular telecast. According to ABC, 67.6 million people watched six or more minutes of Sunday’s show, hosted by Hugh Jackman.
