The 2018 Oscars were not one to remember — you know, except for Guillermo del Toro and the night’s other big winners.
Sunday’s average audience of 26.5 million total viewers was the smallest tune-in for an Oscars in Nielsen’s electronically recorded history, which dates back to the early 1990s.
Jimmy Kimmel’s return as Academy Awards host lost 6.4 million total viewers from his first go-around last year (which had 32.9 million viewers) — or a harsh 19.5 percent decline.
The previous all-time Oscar low happened a decade ago, when host Jon Stewart and Best Picture winner “No Country for Old Men” brought in 32.0 million total viewers. This year’s was 17.2 percent lower than even that. Yikes.
Read Monday’s earlier-available Nielsen numbers for the ABC special here. And check out Sunday’s winners here.
The 90th Oscars drew 23 million interactions across social media.