The 87th Academy Awards on ABC ran quite long Sunday night, and the late show’s early ratings reflect dwindling viewer interest — at least when compared to recent years.
The 2015 Oscars telecast averaged a 25.0 household rating/38 share per the overnight 56 metered markets measured by Nielsen. That rating is down 10 percent from last year, hitting a four-year low.
In the advertiser-sought 18-49 demographic, the Academy Awards delivered a 14.2/36 last night per Nielsen’s local people meter.
Combined with the red carpet pre-show during Sunday’s primetime (7-11 p.m. for ABC, CBS and NBC, 7-10 p.m. for Fox), ABC beat its combined Big 4 competition by 209 percent on average in the U.S. Household Metered Markets and by 500 percent in the key demo. Those large gaps are of course to be expected with a massive live broadcast like the Oscars.
The Top 5 metered markets for the Oscars were:
1. Los Angeles (33.5)
2. Chicago (32.5)
3. New York (32.4)
4. (tie) San Diego (31.7)
4. (tie) Kansas City (31.7)
Timezone adjusted true fast national ratings from Nielsen are scheduled to be delivered by 3 p.m. ET on Monday, at which point TheWrap will publish the more accurate numbers in a separate post.