Editing Academy Awards (section)

=== TV ratings ===
[[File:Academy Awards Viewership 1974-2023, in millions.png|thumb|Academy Awards Viewership 1974–2023, in millions<ref name="tvbythenumbers"/>]]
Historically, the telecast's viewership is higher when box-office hits are favored to win the Best Picture award. More than 57.25{{spaces}}million viewers tuned to the telecast for the [[70th Academy Awards]] in 1998, the year of ''[[Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic]]'', which generated a box office haul during its initial 1997–98 run of {{USD|600.8 million|long=no}} in the US, a box-office record that would remain unsurpassed for years.<ref>{{cite news |last=James |first=Meg |date=February 23, 2008 |title=Academy's red carpet big stage for advertisers |work=The Seattle Times |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2004196530_oscarads23.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111117115833/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2004196530_oscarads23.html |archive-date=November 17, 2011}}</ref> The [[76th Academy Awards]] ceremony, in which ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King]]'' (pre-telecast box office earnings of {{USD|368 million|long=no}}) received 11 Awards, including Best Picture, drew 43.56{{spaces}}million viewers.<ref name="usatoday_oscar">{{cite news |last=Bowles |first=Scott |date=January 26, 2005 |title=Oscars lack blockbuster to lure TV viewers |work=USA Today |url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/movieawards/oscars/2005-01-26-oscar-telecast_x.htm |url-status=live |access-date=November 8, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060915033557/http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/movieawards/oscars/2005-01-26-oscar-telecast_x.htm |archive-date=September 15, 2006}}</ref> The most-watched ceremony based on [[Nielsen ratings]] to date, was the [[42nd Academy Awards]] (Best Picture ''[[Midnight Cowboy]]''), which drew a 43.4% household rating on April 7, 1970.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Oppelaar |first=Justin |date=October 9, 2002 |title=Charts and Data: Top 100 TV Shows of All Time by ''Variety'' |url=https://variety.com/index.asp?layout=chart_pass&charttype=chart_topshowsalltime |magazine=Variety |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118083655/http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=chart_pass&charttype=chart_topshowsalltime |archive-date=January 18, 2012 |access-date=February 26, 2014}}</ref> Hoping to reinvigorate the pre-show and ratings, the 2023 Oscars organizers hired members of the [[Met Gala]] creative team.<ref name="OscarsHiredMetGalaTeam">{{cite news |last=Brooks Barnes |date=March 13, 2023 |title=With Its Future at Stake, the Academy Tries to Fix the Oscars (Again) |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/09/business/media/academy-awards-broadcast.html |access-date=April 29, 2023 |quote=To reinvigorate the red carpet preshow, Oscars organizers hired members of the [[Met Gala]] creative team. |archive-date=September 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230904073142/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/09/business/media/academy-awards-broadcast.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

By contrast, ceremonies honoring films that have not performed well at the box office tend to show weaker ratings, despite how much critical acclaim those films have received. The [[78th Academy Awards]], which awarded a low-budget independent film (''[[Crash (2004 film)|Crash]]'' with a pre-Oscar gross of {{USD|53.4 million|long=no}}) generated an audience of 38.64{{spaces}}million with a household rating of 22.91%.<ref>{{cite news |last=Levin |first=Gary |date=March 7, 2006 |title=Low Ratings ''Crash'' Party |work=USA Today |url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-03-07-nielsen-analysis_x.htm |url-status=live |access-date=April 14, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100611173534/http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-03-07-nielsen-analysis_x.htm |archive-date=June 11, 2010}}</ref> In 2008, the [[80th Academy Awards]] telecast was watched by 31.76{{spaces}}million viewers on average with an 18.66% household rating, the lowest-rated and least-watched ceremony at the time, in spite of celebrating 80 years of the Academy Awards.<ref>{{cite news |title=Oscar ratings worst ever |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080227/LIFE/802270307 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330005242/http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20080227%2FLIFE%2F802270307 |archive-date=March 30, 2014}}</ref> The Best Picture winner of that particular ceremony was another independent film (this time, the [[Coen brothers]]'s ''[[No Country for Old Men]]'').

Whereas the [[92nd Academy Awards]] drew an average of 23.6{{spaces}}million viewers,<ref>{{cite news |last=Golum |first=Rob |date=February 10, 2020 |title=Oscars Draw Record Low Audience With 23.6 Million Viewers |work=[[Bloomberg Businessweek]] | url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-10/oscars-draw-lowest-audience-on-record-with-23-6-million-viewers |url-status=live |access-date=March 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200624030249/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-10/oscars-draw-lowest-audience-on-record-with-23-6-million-viewers |archive-date=June 24, 2020}}</ref> the [[93rd Academy Awards]] drew an even lower viewership of 10.4{{spaces}}million,<ref>{{cite news |last=Patten |first=Dominic |date=April 27, 2021 |title=Oscar Viewership Rises To 10.4M In Final Numbers; Remains Least Watched & Lowest Rated Academy Awards Ever – Update |work=[[Deadline Hollywood]] |url=https://deadline.com/2021/04/2021-0scars-tv-ratings-academy-awards-low-abc-disney-1234744135/ |url-status=live |access-date=April 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427000428/https://deadline.com/2021/04/2021-0scars-tv-ratings-academy-awards-low-abc-disney-1234744135/ |archive-date=April 27, 2021}}</ref> the lowest viewership recorded by Nielsen since it started recording audience totals in 1974.<ref>{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Gerry |date=April 26, 2021 |title=Oscars Audience Collapses in Latest Setback for Awards Shows |language=en |work=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-26/oscars-audience-falls-by-over-half-in-latest-setback-for-awards |url-status=live |access-date=April 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429232051/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-26/oscars-audience-falls-by-over-half-in-latest-setback-for-awards |archive-date=April 29, 2021}}</ref> The [[94th Academy Awards|94th]] and [[95th Academy Awards|95th]] editions drew 16.6 and 18.7{{spaces}}million viewers, respectively, still below the audience of the 92nd edition.<ref name="CNN Ratings 2022"/><ref name="Yahoo Ratings 2023"/>