About 18 million people watched Oscars honor 'Anora'

Los Angeles: This year's Oscars telecast that honored independent film Anora brought in an estimated 18.1 million US viewers on television and streaming, according to data released by broadcaster ABC on Monday.

The audience for the highest honors in Hollywood fell 7 per cent from the 2024 ceremony, when 19.5 million people tuned in to see blockbuster biopic Oppenheimer take best picture.

Among adults under 50, viewership rose 3 per cent from last year, ABC said.

Anora, an unconventional fairy tale about a sex worker and the son of a Russian oligarch, won this year's best picture prize and four other honors at the ceremony. The movie has brought in $40 million at global box offices, compared with nearly $976 million for Oppenheimer.

Comedian Conan O'Brien hosted the Oscars for the first time and was generally applauded by TV critics. The show ran nearly four hours and mostly avoided politics.

O'Brien "absolutely rocked his debut as a host, walking the perfect line between acid and affection," wrote Owen Gleiberman of Variety. "This was Conan at his acerbic best, giving Jimmy Kimmel a run for his money."

The Academy Awards aired live on Walt Disney's ABC and streamed on Hulu. Some viewers reported glitches on Hulu and said the stream ended just before best actress and best picture were announced.

Viewership of Hollywood awards ceremonies has dropped in recent years as audiences ditched traditional television for streaming and social media.

Sunday's awards generated 104.2 million social interactions, more than music's Grammy Awards and the National Football League's Super Bowl, ABC said. The highest-rated Academy Awards telecast aired in 1998, when megahit Titanic swept the honors. More than 57 million people tuned in that year. In 2021, in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, Oscar ratings hit their low point with 10.5 million viewers.