Oscars 2019 Ratings Rise, Beat Last Year’s All-Time Low
Early ratings for last night’s Oscars 2019 ceremony are in, and more people tuned in to watch Green Book win Best Picture than last year’s show hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, which brought in the lowest ratings ever for the awards show.
The show earned a 21.6/36 in metered markets in the 8-11:15pm ET time slot, and was up 14.3 percent over last year. That said, last night’s show is still the second-lowest rated ceremony of all time, but in today’s television atmosphere, ABC can count this year a win.
The lack of a host proved popular with viewers watching at home, though some presenters made their case to host next year, including Melissa McCarthy (decked out in bunny rabbits), Trevor Noah, Awkwafina and John Mulaney.
Another plus for many was the abbreviated running time — the show only ran around 3 hours and 21 minutes, shorter than in past years.
The biggest surprise win of the night was Olivia Colman’s Best Actress win for The Favourite, upsetting expected winner Glenn Close. Colman’s speech was lovely and genuine, eliciting cheers from the crowd (and surely from viewers at home).
The uptick in ratings this year could be because of the inclusion of popular films in the Best Picture race, including Black Panther and Bohemian Rhapsody. The Academy proposed (and swiftly shut down) a Popular Film category this year, but it’s safe to say more mainstream films could be included in the list in following years. Streaming also made it easier than ever to see some of the nominees, in particular Roma, which premiered on Netflix the same day it hit theaters.
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