The organizers and producers can finally take a sigh of relief now that the 2026 Oscars are officially over. On Sunday night, March 15, the 98th Academy Awards commenced in all its glory and had smooth sailing for most parts of the ceremony. It became a night where the bigwigs of Hollywood shared a few laughs, tears, and a whole lot of joy in celebrating the best cinema of the year. 

Now that everyone is over the glam, the glitz, and the drama of Hollywood’s greatest night, they are wondering how many people watched the live broadcast of the show on ABC and Hulu. 

The viewership of the 98th annual Academy Awards, which took place at the iconic Dolby Theater on March 15, has not yet been publicly released by the Nielsen Media Research responsible for tracking the viewership and rating of the show, per The Enquirer. For the past few years, the viewership totals were usually released the next Tuesday after the event by the Nielsen Media Research, but they have not done the same this year.

According to The New York Times, viewership totals show how important Hollywood is in the face of changing dynamics of societal norms, media habits, and politics. The news outlet also pointed out that when well-known movies are nominated, to which a larger group of the audience has connected, the viewership usually rises. 

For example, when Titanic won numerous honors at the 1998 Oscars, it attracted more than 55 million viewers - the show's highest viewership ever. Similarly, when Gandhi won Best Picture in 1983, it became the only other occasion the telecast had more than 50 million viewers. Comparing it to recent times, the 2025 ceremony mustered just 19.7 million viewers. 

To be fair, the viewership is still recovering after a sharp decline in 2021, when just 10.4 million people watched the Academy Awards due to COVID-19. Taking a look at the 2024 statistics, where 19.5 million viewers turned up, marking a 4% growth as compared to 2023, is still steady progress.

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Coming back to the 2026 ratings, the number will be out once published, but the viewers' reaction online suggests that it might not be better than the previous year.

According to a report from The Mirror, people online have been sharing their views on the 2026 Oscars, and it is not that good. Most people are complaining that the show was boring, and most of the jokes fell flat. While some said that they were not happy with how host Conan O’Brien was handling things this year.

Well, most of the criticism was aimed towards the writing of the show, and some even claimed that it might be the worst-written Oscars ceremony in the last 20 years. But what most agreed was that the In Memoriam section was the highlight of the show. Legends like Rob Reiner and Robert Redford were given tributes with heartfelt speeches. So, the show was not all bad, and there were many who liked the presentation and praised it online. 

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What were your favorite moments from the 2026 Oscars? Let us know in the comments.