Chris Rock’s Return As Host Draws 34M Viewers In 8-Year Low

The Oscars were all given out last night at the 88th Academy Awards but despite one of the most anticipated opening monologues in years due to the diversity controversy,  it turns out there is no gold, nor silver or bronze for ABC. With 34.3 million total viewers watching the Chris Rock hosted shindig from the Hollywood and Highland on Sunday, the Oscars took a tumble this year to hit an 8-year low and the third lowest viewership ever.

Like last year, the Oscars had a few stragglers when it came to viewership. Nielsen is now reporting that the total audience for the 88th Academy Awards has eked up to 34.4 million with a key demo rating of 10.5/31. That’s a rise of a tenth among adults 18-49 and just 100,000 in total viewership and still has Sunday’s Chris Rock hosted show as the third least watched Oscars ever and an 8-year low for the telecast. Additionally, it looks like that decline from 2015 had little to do with African-American viewers boycotting the ceremony over the #OscarsSoWhite controversy. Viewership among the demographic dipped just 2% from last year, according to Nielsen.

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