Oscars 2026 Telecast Sees 9 Percent Viewership Drop to 17.9 Million

The 98th Oscars 2026 drew just under 17.9 million viewers, a 9 percent decline from 2025 and the smallest audience since 2022, when the ceremony returned to a traditional host format.

The 98th Oscars 2026 drew just under 17.9 million viewers Sunday night, marking a 9 percent decline from last year's ceremony and the smallest audience since 2022, according to preliminary Nielsen data.

The 2025 ceremony had attracted 19.7 million viewers, which itself was down from 2024's 21.5 million. The steady erosion continues a post-pandemic trend that has seen the broadcast struggle to recapture audiences that once regularly exceeded 40 million viewers in the 1990s and 2000s. The ceremony's all-time low remains 2021's 10.4 million, when the pandemic disrupted production and the show was held in a socially distanced format at Union Station.

The 98th Oscars 2026, hosted by Conan O'Brien, aired live on ABC and streamed on Hulu. The 3-hour-40-minute ceremony featured Paul Thomas Anderson's "One Battle after Another" taking Best Picture and a tribute to Hollywood legends lost in the past year, including Robert Redford and Rob Reiner, with Barbra Streisand singing a few bars of "The Way We Were."

Ratings peaked during the final 15 minutes, when Anderson accepted Best Picture and Sean Penn was awarded Best Supporting Actor in absentia. The ceremony also marked the first time a K-pop song won Best Original Song, with "Golden" from Netflix's "KPop Demon Hunters" taking the prize.

The decline mirrors broader broadcast trends as audiences continue shifting to streaming. The Oscars face increasing competition from cable news, which has drawn significant viewership amid the ongoing conflict with Iran. Sunday's ceremony also overlapped with the opening weekend of March Madness, which typically draws substantial sports audiences away from entertainment programming.

Industry analysts note that the Academy and ABC have experimented with format changes, host selections and broadcast lengths to stabilize viewership. Conan O'Brien's hosting drew generally positive reviews, but the ratings suggest no single change has reversed the long-term erosion.

As the Oscars 2026 telecast records its lowest audience since 2022 despite a Conan O'Brien-hosted ceremony and a sweeping Best Picture winner, The Silicon Review explores what the 9 percent decline signals about the future of live awards shows in a fragmented media landscape and whether any amount of star power can reverse the inexorable shift toward streaming.