Oscars 2021: Nielsen's more holistic count bumps television audience count to 10.4 mn

It may be little consolation for the movie academy, but a more complete count by the Nielsen company pushed the Academy Awards audience to 10.4 million viewers on Tuesday.

A day earlier, Nielsen’s preliminary estimate had Sunday’s show at 9.85 million viewers. Either way, it’s a record low for an event that not too long ago routinely reached more than 30 million people.

The Oscars were enough to give ABC a victory in the prime-time ratings with an average of 4.1 million viewers last week. CBS had 3.8 million, NBC had 3.5 million, Fox had 2.7 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Telemundo had 1.03 million, Ion Television had 970,000 and the CW had 530,000.

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Fox News Channel led the cable networks with an average of 2.23 million viewers. MSNBC had 1.45 million, HGTV had 1.29 million, TNT had 1.15 million and ESPN had 1.1 million.

ABC’s World News Tonight won the evening news race by averaging 8.1 million viewers last week. NBC’s Nightly News had 6.5 million viewers and the CBS Evening News had 4.9 million.

For the week of 19-25 April, the 20 most-watched programs in prime time, their networks and viewerships:

1. The Oscars, ABC, 10.4 million.

2. 60 Minutes, CBS, 7.19 million.

3. Chicago Med, NBC, 7.15 million.

4. Young Sheldon, CBS, 7.01 million.

5. Chicago Fire, NBC, 6.93 million.

6. The Voice, NBC, 6.42 million.

7. NCIS, CBS, 6.36 million.

8. 911, Fox, 6.25 million.

9. Chicago PD, NBC, 5.89 million.

10. FBI, CBS, 5.71 million.

11. 911: Lone Star, Fox, 5.49 million.

12. United States of Al, CBS, 5.37 million.

13. The Neighborhood, CBS, 5.11 million.

14. The Masked Singer, Fox, 5.08 million.

15. Mom, CBS, 5.04 million.

16. Bob Hearts Abishola, CBS, 4.93 million.

17. Oscars: Into the Spotlight, ABC, 4.84 million.

18. Gray’s Anatomy, ABC, 4.81 million.

19. Bull, CBS, 4.69 million.

20. Situation Room: Chauvin Verdict, CNN, 4.69 million.