Oscars viewership hit an average of 18.7 million viewers on Sunday night.

Oscars viewership hit an average of 18.7 million viewers on Sunday night.

The ceremony, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, aired exclusively on the ABC TV network; it's now available to stream on-demand on Hulu.

These aren't the final numbers, but Nielsen's early, time zone-adjusted ratings; the final "live + same day" viewership data will arrive on Tuesday afternoon.
This year's viewership was up around 12% over last year, despite tough competition from the Season 1 finale of HBO's "The Last of Us."
Kimmel returned as host for the first time since 2018; live TV veterans Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner produced the show for the first time.
According to executive producer Molly McNearney, Kimmel and his team cut most of their planned jokes about the Will Smith "slap" incident, opting not to "make this year all about last year."