Oscars viewership drops 9% to a 4-year low on ABC and Hulu

The 98th Oscars audience dropped to its lowest in four years, drawing 17.86 million viewers on ABC and Hulu.

This was a decline of about 9% from the previous year, when nearly 20 million tuned in after Disney included PC and mobile metrics. 

There is a possibility this number may increase slightly. Yet, it remains significantly higher than many other awards shows in recent years, such as the Golden Globes, Emmys, and Grammys.

It's hard to pinpoint exactly why the show performed poorly this year, especially since Oscar viewership had been trending upwards recently.

In keeping with recent trends, the Academy chose an early start time again, beginning the ceremony at 7pm ET/4pm PT, which kept the show largely within primetime. 

Over the past few years, this has seemingly helped retain viewers who might have tuned out earlier when the Oscars often extended past 11pm ET.

The event was also just a few minutes short of being one of the longest Oscars ever. 

So, while it was a thrilling night with some historic wins and unexpected moments, the extensive length likely discouraged viewers.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another earned a leading six awards, and Ryan Coogler’s Sinners followed with four, culminating a lengthy awards season where the studio rivals competed over months. 

Amid the studio's $110 billion Paramount Skydance deal, Warner Bros led with 11 awards, followed by Netflix with seven, including three for Frankenstein. 

Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters was the only other film to secure multiple wins on Sunday, with no other studio taking more than one.

Michael B. Jordan emerged victorious in the highly contested Best Actor category for his dual roles as Smoke and Stack in Sinners, after his success at the Actor Awards two weeks earlier.

Jessie Buckley confirmed expectations with her Best Actress achievement for Focus Features’ Hamnet.