The 96th Oscars drew an audience of 4.5 million viewers Sunday night, a four per cent increase over last year’s broadcast, according to viewer data released by Bell Media.
An average audience of 3.5 million viewers tuned into the awards show on CTV, with one in two English-language Canadians tuning into the broadcast, which delivered a 50% share for English Canada.
The audience peaked at 10:19 p.m. ET leading into Oppenheimer’s win for Best Picture.
CTV specials Countdown to the Oscars, which drew 1.5 million viewers, and ETALK’s first-ever ETALK After The Oscars live show breaking down the night’s big moments, attracting an audience of 1.1 million, rounded out the Top 3 programs of the day.
Bell Media says this year’s broadcast marks the third consecutive year of audience growth for the awards show, which also saw double-digit growth in the key A25-54 demographic, up 12% year-over-year.
Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers accept the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Film for “The Last Repair Shop” with the help of 12-year-old student Porchè Brinker.#Oscars#Oscars2024https://t.co/X7unxQW0XY pic.twitter.com/5GbDjKrJJ6
— ABC News (@ABC) March 11, 2024
Of the Canadian nominees this year, Nova Scotia-born filmmaker Ben Proudfoot won his second Oscar in three years for The Last Repair Shop, which picked up Best Documentary Short. Co-directed with Kris Bowers, the short showcased the team of people who keep 80,000 musical instruments in working order for Los Angeles public school students. Proudfoot and Bowers received an earlier nomination three years ago for A Concerto Is a Conversation. Proudfoot went on to win the Oscar in 2022 for his short doc The Queen of Basketball, about the late Lucy Harris, who scored the first basket in women’s Olympic history and was the first and only woman officially drafted into the NBA.
In the U.S., Nielsen data indicates the Academy Awards broadcast drew 19.5 million viewers, a four per cent increase over the 18.8 million who tuned in 2023, a four-year audience high.
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