Sunday Overnight Scorecard: The Oscars Slip By 6 Percent from the Year-Ago Telecast

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2016

Household Rating/Share
ABC: 19.3 rating/30 share, CBS: 3.3/ 5, NBC: 2.0/ 3, Fox: 1.0/ 2

Percent Change From the Year-Ago Oscar Night (2/22/15):
CBS: + 3, NBC: – 5, ABC: – 8, Fox: -23

Ratings Breakdown:
It was all about “The 88th Annual Academy Awards” on ABC last night, which averaged an estimated 23.1 rating/37 share in the household overnights from 8:30 p.m.-12 a.m. Comparably, this was six percent below the year-ago telecast (24.6/39 on 2/22/15). And that 24.6 overnight household rating translated into 37.26 million viewers, based on the Live + Same Day data, which was the smallest audience for the Oscars since the 36.31 million in 2009.

Earlier in the evening on ABC was pre-show “Live from the Red Carpet” at an 8.8/16 from 7-8:30 p.m., which was nine percent below the 9.7/16 one year earlier. Keep in mind that the results for any live telecast are always approximate.

Elsewhere, the household overnight results, as expected, were minimal with all competing networks on repeats. A 90-minute edition of “60 Minutes” on CBS (4.6/ 7 from 7-8:30 p.m.) led into 2013 theatrical “Last Vegas” at a 2.4/ 4 from 8:30-11 p.m. Two-hours of “Dateline” on NBC (3.6/ 6 from 7-9 p.m.) led into a 1.1/ 2 for 2012 theatrical “Ted” from 9-11 p.m. And Fox populated the evening with “The Simpsons” (1.1/ 2), “Bob’s Burgers” (1.0/ 2), the regularly scheduled edition of “The Simpsons” (1.3/ 2), “Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving the Universe” (1.1/ 2) and recent animated entry “Bordertown” from 7-10 p.m.

Source: Nielsen Media Research