--- description: ABC's 2018 Oscars broadcast attracted the fewest viewers in history, according to Nielsen data title: Last Night's Oscars Ratings Were the Lowest in 44 Years – by Far image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1eb64f61c75b45dd/698929af86f68e83816e87dd/oscars-ratings-low.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Television](/tag/television/) ## Television Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Last Night's Oscars Ratings Were the Lowest in 44 Years – by Far by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Updated: Dec 12, 2023 9:29 PM CUTPublished: Mar 5, 2018 8:13 PM CUT  THE OSCARS(r) - The 90th Oscars(r) broadcasts live on Oscar(r) SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2018, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, on the ABC Television Network. THE OSCARS(r) - The 90th Oscars(r) broadcasts live on Oscar(r) SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2018, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, on the ABC Television Network.Ed Herrera—ABC via Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Updated: Dec 12, 2023 9:29 PM CUTPublished: Mar 5, 2018 8:13 PM CUT The [90th Academy Awards](http://time.com/5186180/oscars-2018-envelope-memes/ "undefined") were the talk of Hollywood on Sunday night, but ABC’s 2018 Oscars broadcast attracted the fewest viewers in history, according to data released Monday by Nielsen. About 26.5 million viewers tuned in to the 2018 Oscars, marking a record low and the first time Academy Awards viewership sunk below 30 million people, the Associated Press reports. The data does not include people who streamed the Academy Awards on digital or mobile platforms, though ABC made the broadcast available online and through its app for those with a cable log-in. The figure is the lowest since Nielsen started tracking Oscars viewership numbers in 1974\. Viewership sunk by 20% from last year, when 32.9 million people watched the 2017 Oscars. The 2017 Oscars saw was the lowest number of viewers since 2008, when the broadcast drew in 32 million viewers. In 2016, an average of 34.4 million people watched the Academy Awards broadcast. The decline comes amid a general slump for television viewership, even for major televised events. The 2018 Super Bowl attracted 103.4 million viewers, the [lowest figure](http://fortune.com/2018/02/05/super-bowl-2018-ratings/ "undefined") since 2009, according to [_The Hollywood Reporter_.](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/super-bowl-ratings-1081648 "undefined") The Academy Awards aired across the country on ABC Sunday night, with [_The Shape of Water_ taking home the Oscar for Best Picture](http://time.com/5182674/oscars-2018-winners/ "undefined") during the ceremony. The show wrapped up around midnight. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5186280/oscars-2018-ratings-low/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5186280/oscars-2018-ratings-low/"},"headline":"Last Night's Oscars Ratings Were the Lowest in 44 Years – by Far","datePublished":"2018-03-05T20:13:28.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-12T21:29:26.000Z","description":"Viewership was down 20% from last year, data showed","url":"https://time.com/5186280/oscars-2018-ratings-low/","keywords":["Television","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1eb64f61c75b45dd/698929af86f68e83816e87dd/oscars-ratings-low.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1eb64f61c75b45dd/698929af86f68e83816e87dd/oscars-ratings-low.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"ABC's Coverage Of The 90th Annual Academy Awards","caption":"ABC's Coverage Of The 90th Annual Academy Awards","creditText":"Ed Herrera—ABC via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/television/","name":"Television"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5186280/oscars-2018-ratings-low/","name":"Last Night's Oscars Ratings Were the Lowest in 44 Years – by Far"}}]}] ```