It may be little consolation for the movie academy, but a more complete count by the Nielsen company pushed the Academy Awards audience to 10.4 million viewers on Tuesday.
A day earlier, Nielsen's preliminary estimate had Sunday's show at 9.85 million viewers. Either way, it's a record low for an event that not too long ago routinely reached more than 30 million people.
The Oscars were enough to give ABC a victory in the prime-time ratings with an average of 4.1 million viewers last week. CBS had 3.8 million, NBC had 3.5 million, Fox had 2.7 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Telemundo had 1.03 million, Ion Television had 970,000 and the CW had 530,000.
Nominees, including: Yorgos Lamprinos, bottom center, Adrien Merigeau, center left, Amaury Ovise, center right, Nicolas Becker, center, Jean-Louis Livi, top right, and Florian Zeller, top second left, attend a screening of the Oscars on Monday April 26, 2021 in Paris, France. (AP PhotoLewis Joly, Pool)
Fox News Channel led the cable networks with an average of 2.23 million viewers. MSNBC had 1.45 million, HGTV had 1.29 million, TNT had 1.15 million and ESPN had 1.1 million.
ABC's “World News Tonight” won the evening news race by averaging 8.1 million viewers last week. NBC's “Nightly News” had 6.5 million viewers and the “CBS Evening News” had 4.9 million.
For the week of April 19-25, the 20 most-watched programs in prime time, their networks and viewerships:
Chloe Zhao, winner of the awards for best picture and director for "Nomadland," poses in the press room at the Oscars on Sunday, April 25, 2021, at Union Station in Los Angeles. (AP PhotoChris Pizzello, Pool)
1. “The Oscars,” ABC, 10.4 million.
2. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 7.19 million.
3. “Chicago Med,” NBC, 7.15 million.
4. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 7.01 million.
5. “Chicago Fire,” NBC, 6.93 million.
6. “The Voice,” NBC, 6.42 million.
7. “NCIS,” CBS, 6.36 million.
8. “911,” Fox, 6.25 million.
9. “Chicago PD,” NBC, 5.89 million.
10. “FBI,” CBS, 5.71 million.
11. “911: Lone Star,” Fox, 5.49 million.
12. “United States of Al,” CBS, 5.37 million.
13. “The Neighborhood,” CBS, 5.11 million.
14. “The Masked Singer,” Fox, 5.08 million.
15. “Mom,” CBS, 5.04 million.
16. “Bob Hearts Abishola,” CBS, 4.93 million.
17. “Oscars: Into the Spotlight,” ABC, 4.84 million.
18. “Gray's Anatomy,” ABC, 4.81 million.
19. “Bull,” CBS, 4.69 million.
20. “Situation Room: Chauvin Verdict,” CNN, 4.69 million.