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Ratings for the Oscars have surprisingly improved since 2021, despite the frequent doom and gloom seen online for the prestigious awards show. It is true that viewership for the Academy Awards has dropped significantly since the 1990s, where the event would easily rake in more than 40 million to 55 million viewers on ABC. But as broadcast and cable television has declined in the face of streaming and on-demand services, this figure dipped to an all-time low of 10 million in 2021. That said, the Oscars has steadily recovered since then and is taking meaningful steps to ensure its longevity.
Ratings for the Oscars have improved over the last five years
Due to the COVID pandemic, the 93rd Academy Awards that took place in April 2021 only had a dismal total of 10.4 million viewers. The ceremony, set in Union Station instead of the typical Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, was a much smaller affair that didn’t have as much star power. By comparison, the 2019 Oscars where Green Brook won Best Picture had about 29 million viewers, and the 2020 Oscars that saw the Korean film Parasite win Best Picture had roughly 23 million. It looked like this sharp decline would be a death knell for the show.
Fortunately, the Academy Awards have gained back some of its momentum, climbing to 16.6 million viewers for the 2022 ceremony. This has gradually improved to 18.7 million viewers in 2023, 19.5 million in 2024, and 19.69 million in 2025, with last year’s iteration combining ratings from ABC and Hulu. Hopefully, this trend will continue with the upcoming 98th Oscars, which will air on Sunday, March 15.
From a bird’s-eye view, the 19.69 million figure might not seem that impressive compared to figures from a decade ago, but that’s still one of the largest — if not the largest — viewership numbers for a non-sporting event on television.
The Academy recognizes that streaming is the future
These ratings are also surprising given the broader trend of traditional linear TV being supplanted by streaming services, like Netflix and Hulu.
As noted by Cord Cutters, prominent networks like CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox have all experienced significant drops in viewership from 2020 to 2025. Within this five-year time period, CBS saw a dip of around 20% from 5.6 million to 4.4 million viewers in primetime, while ABC slipped by about 10% from 4.5 million to 4 million. Meanwhile, in June 2025 industry analyst Nielsen reported that streaming represented 44.8% of total TV viewership, more than both broadcast and cable combined (44.2%).
On top of that, audiences are spending less of their time in theaters. A 2025 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center reports that 53% of U.S. adults had not seen a movie in the last 12 months, while 7% never seen a film in a movie theater ever. This means that it’s more difficult for audiences to watch any movies nominated for an Oscar unless they become available on one of multiple streaming services. And if people aren’t able to see these films, it’s less likely that they would be invested in watching the Oscars in the first place. Given these obstacles, it’s impressive that the Academy Awards has managed to hold onto the viewership that it has.
While there’s little that the Oscars can do about the industry-wide fracturing of how films are seen by audiences, it has recognized its own problem of sticking to traditional broadcast TV. Even with Hulu helping to bolsters its numbers for the 2025 Oscars, the show has decided to move to YouTube in 2029. The new deal acknowledges the shift toward streaming and will see the entire ceremony be broadcast for free around the world, making it far easier for international viewers to watch the show. It remains to be seen whether this move will payoff, but the rising dominance of streaming should work in its favor.
