Oscars audience tops 15 million, exceeding last year

By DAVID BAUDER
AP Media Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The television audience for the Academy Awards appears to be up from last year’s record low, but is still not at the level that the annual awards show is accustomed to. ABC, releasing preliminary Nielsen company estimates, said 15.36 million people watched Sunday’s show, up from the shocking 9.85 million viewers last year, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. A more detailed estimate is expected on Tuesday, with the addition of out-of-home viewers, for example. Before 2021, the previous smallest Oscars audience was the 23.6 million who watched in 2020. Live television viewing in general is down because of streaming and cord-cutting.