第86届奥斯卡颁奖典礼收视率创新高

    Sunday’s Oscar telecast* drew 43 million viewers in the United States, delivering the biggest audience for the Academy Awards in a decade, but divided critics, who mostly liked host Ellen DeGeneres but thought the show ran too long.

    Nielsen ratings data on Monday showed the audience that watched “12 Years a Slave” capture the best picture honor grew 6.4 percent from last year. That is a positive sign for broadcaster ABC, which has signed on to host Hollywood’s biggest night through 2020.

    The Oscars attract the biggest non-sports TV audience in the United States each year, and the show drew its largest viewership* since 2004, when 43.6 million tuned in.

    Producers’ middle-of-the-road approach to the show with DeGeneres hosting gave the Walt Disney Co.-owned network similar results among younger viewers compared with last year, when they gambled with comedian Seth MacFarlane as host.

    The 56-year-old daytime talk show host earned high marks for her jokes about actress Jennifer Lawrence falling on her way to accept an Oscar last year and teasing Oscar voters as “racists” if “12 Years a Slave” did not win best picture.(SD-Agencies)