The 98th Oscars hosted by Conan O’Brien drew 17.9 million viewers on Sunday night, hitting the first decline for the Oscars telecast since 2021, according to American Nielsen national live+same day big data plus panel program ratings.
The telecast, which aired live on ABC in the U.S. and streamed on Hulu, was down nine per cent from last year’s post-pandemic high of 19.7 million viewers and a six-year high with younger viewers aged 18-34, who tuned in for O’Brien’s inaugural year as host, when Anora swept the awards.
The show also saw a more significant 14 per cent decline among adults aged 18-49 compared to last year.
The decline for Sunday night’s show matches similar dips in viewership for other major award shows, including the Golden Globes, which was down by seven per cent with 8.7 million viewers in January, and the Grammys, which was down by six per cent with 14.4 million viewers in February.
Despite the dip in ratings this year, according to the Walt Disney Co., the 98th Academy Awards now rates as the No. 1 prime-time entertainment telecast of the 2025-2026 season.
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Engagement for the Oscars rose in other metrics: prime-time social impressions went up more than 42 per cent this year, and there were more than 129 million video views on Academy social platforms throughout the night.
In 2021, the Oscars saw an all-time low of 10.4 million viewers but continued to grow in ratings after that, hitting 16.6 million viewers in 2022, 18.8 million in 2023, 19.5 million in 2024 and 19.7 million in 2025.
At its height in the 1990s, the Oscars often attracted around 45 million viewers. Its peak came in 1998, with 57.2 million people watching when Titanic won best picture.
Sunday’s Oscars saw a showdown between two Warner Bros. films, One Battle After Another and Sinners, with the former winning best picture and director. Michael B. Jordan won best actor for Sinners, the most nominated film in history, with 16, which also broke the record for the most losses by a single film at 12.
Canadians made a strong showing at this year’s Academy Awards, with Korean-Canadian director Maggie Kang winning the Oscar for best animated feature for her debut film KPop Demon Hunters.
The Girl Who Cried Pearls, by Montreal directors Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, also took home an Oscar for best animated short film.
Canada’s Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau won the Oscar for best production design for their work on Frankenstein.
Production designer Deverell, now based in Cape Breton, N.S., and set decorator Vieau, originally from Dartmouth, N.S., took home the prize for their work on the horror-fantasy directed by Guillermo del Toro.
Earlier in the night, Canadians Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey were part of the team that won the Oscar for best makeup and hairstyling on the film.
Disney still has two more years left of its deal with the Oscars, which will continue to broadcast on ABC and Hulu in 2027 and 2028 before the award show moves to YouTube for its 101st awards in 2029. YouTube has the rights to the Oscars until at least 2033.
— With files from The Associated Press
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