On Second Count, ABC Says Oscar Viewership Increased

On Monday, ABC said that the Oscars audience declined by about 8 percent this year compared with last year, citing Nielsen data. Well, it turns out the awards show did not suffer from an audience decline after all, the network said on Tuesday.

The Academy Awards attracted 19.7 million viewers, strong enough to eclipse last year’s total of 19.5 million, ABC said, citing final data from Nielsen. That new number means that the Oscars has increased viewership for four straight years.

And there might be a simple explanation for the next-day change: The Oscars streamed live on Hulu for the first time.

The revised ratings figures issued by ABC on Tuesday cited Nielsen data that an additional 1.6 million viewers on the streaming service were not counted in the initial tally. Many of them watched the event via their computer, phone or tablet.

Many of those additional viewers appear to have been adults under 50. On Monday, ABC said that viewership increased 3 percent among that age group compared with last year’s show. But viewership for Sunday’s show actually went up 19 percent among the under-50 demographic, according to Nielsen’s final data set.

The viewing experience on Hulu, however, was far from perfect. Some subscribers had trouble watching the Oscars at the beginning, and some subscribers did not see the finish; the live feed abruptly cut off — and never returned — right before the final two awards were given out.

The revised numbers come at a moment when the television industry has been urgently grappling with confusion surrounding ratings.

Industry executives have said that in recent years, finding a mutually agreed-upon viewership figure for events and shows is more chaotic than ever in the streaming era. Companies like Nielsen are trying to rapidly adapt to provide an accurate estimate of American viewership.

But the revised Oscars figure also suggests that the livestreaming of events is showing benefits. Last month, the Super Bowl scored 127.7 million viewers, a record, Nielsen said, even though the game was a blowout. But Fox said that more than 13 million viewers had watched the game on the free streaming service Tubi, suggesting that the livestream may have helped give the final number a leg up.