UPDATE (3/29/2022):

Everyone’s still talking about the Oscars, and a lot of people were watching the awards show on March 27. Based on National Live+Same Day program data from Nielsen, 16.6 million viewers tuned in. The show also delivered a 3.8 rating in the key demo among adults 18-49. Those numbers are up 58% and 73%, respectively, from 2021’s show (10.5 million, 2.2 rating).

The Oscars were the highest-rated entertainment special in primetime on any network in two years among adults 18-49 and the strongest awards show telecast in two years in both total viewers and rating (since ABC’s broadcast of the 2020 Oscars). The 2022 show also ranked as the No. 1 primetime entertainment program of the season in both total viewers and among adults 18-49. That being said, it’s the second-least-watched and second-lowest-rated Oscars.

ORIGINAL STORY (3/28/2022):

Did the Oscars 2022 rebound after the awards show hit lows last year? (It was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.) There were certainly some moments that had everyone talking (like Will Smith slapping Chris Rock following a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith) and going into it, we knew it would be a bit different (with some awards presented prior to the show, then speeches cut in, and three hosts), but did that have an impact?

According to the fast-affiliate-based numbers from Nielsen, 13.73 million viewers tuned in on March 27. The 94th Academy Awards also received a 2.9 rating in the key demo among adults 18-49. That’s up from 2021’s 10.4 million viewers (9.85 million, with the fast-affiliate-based numbers) and 2.12 rating, lows for the show. When the fast nationals were adjusted soon after that, it put the total viewers at 15.4 million and the rating at 3.2 Final same-day ratings should be released on March 29, and these numbers will likely go up.

The Will Smith-Chris Rock moment came in the third hour of the show, with Smith’s win for Best Actor then coming after 11/10c (which is not factored into the early numbers).

So what else could people have been watching on Sunday? CBS aired originals of its dramas (back-to-back NCIS: Los Angeles episodes, followed by S.W.A.T.). Fox aired new episodes of The Simpsons, The Great North, Bob’s Burgers, and Family Guy, NBC Weakest Link and Transplant, and the CW Riverdale and March.