2023 Oscar Ratings Improve Over Last Year

The 95th Academy Awards took place on Sunday night and even with strong competition for viewers from HBO's The Last of Us, the Oscars still brought in an average of 18.7 million viewers — a number that marks a 12 percent increase over last year's ratings. The numbers come from early, time zone-adjusted ratings from Nielsen and includes out-of-home viewing, according to Variety, and may change, but the numbers also mark a 5 percent increase over the key adults 18-40 demographic as well. By comparison, the 2022 Oscars drew just 15.36 million viewers. Final live+ same day numbers aren't expected until Tuesday.

The 2023 Oscars was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel in his third time as host for the event. His opening monologue kicked off the festivities by poking a bit of good-natured fun at the film industry, specifically the cancellation of Batgirl, Avatar: The Way of Water, and the infamous Will Smith slap incident at 2022's Oscars, an incident that got a couple of digs from Kimmel through the evening.

"It was a very good year for movies. Business is booming. I know people like to debate now which is better, movies or TV? But here's the thing, no matter how good a show is, there are some things movies could do that TV just can't. For example, a TV show can't lose $100 million. Is the gang from Babylon here? They know. I was just asking if they were here, I was just welcoming," Kimmel said. "At least Babylon got released. In August, Batgirl became the first superhero to be defeated by an accounting department. And then we had the big one; the long, long, long-awaited Avatar: The Way of Water. Which gave the director, the producer Jim Cameron another opportunity to do what he loves to do more than anything else: drowning Kate Winslet. ... James Cameron is not here, by the way, tonight. You know a show is too long when even James Cameron can't sit through it. Some of the cynics are saying Jim Cameron isn't here because he didn't get a Best Director nomination and, while I find that very hard to believe about a man of such deep humility, he does have a point. I mean, how does the Academy not nominate the guy who directed Avatar? What do they think is, a woman? ... It was some year for diversity and inclusion. We have nominees from every corner of Dublin. Five Irish actors are nominated tonight, which means the odds of another fight on stage just went way up."

Who were the big winners at the 2023 Oscars?

The biggest winner at the 2023 Oscars was Everything Everywhere All At Once. The film saw wins in numerous categories, including Ke Huy Quan for Best Supporting Actor, Jamie Lee Curtis for Best Supporting Actress, Michelle Yeoh for Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Director, and Best Picture. The film's Best Picture win also sparked one of the most emotional moments of the evening when Quan reunited onstage with his Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom co-star Harrison Ford — who presented the award and saw the two actors hug, reminiscent of Ford's Indy and Quan's Short Round in the film back in 1984.