The ratings for the 2026 Academy Awards are in, and the viewership decreased from last year’s live broadcast, making this year’s event the least-watched Oscars telecast since 2022.
The 2026 Oscars took place live from Los Angeles’s Dolby Theatre on Sunday, March 15. The event was live on ABC and Hulu, and 17.86 million viewers tuned in, according to Disney (per Variety). It’s a 9% decrease from the 2025 Oscars audience, which had 19.7 million viewers, a five-year high for the Academy Awards.
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