With coverage of the "87th Annual Academy Awards," ABC overshadowed Sunday's prime, leading its combined broadcast competition (CBS, NBC and Fox) by 211% in Total Viewers (30.8 million vs. 9.9 million) and by 300% in Adults 18-49 (8.8/24 vs. 2.2/6).
"Oscar's Red Carpet Live" (7:00 - 8:30 p.m.)
Building by 10.6 million viewers from its first half-hour to its final half-hour (13.7 million to 24.3 million), ABC's "Oscar's Red Carpet Live" pulled in 24.3 million viewers from 8:00-8:30 p.m. leading into the ceremony.
"The Oscars" (8:30-11:48 p.m.)
ABC's 2015 broadcast of "The Oscars" drew an average audience of 36.6 million Total Viewers and earned a 10.8 rating among Adults 18-49, based on Nielsen's "Fast National" ratings. The 2015 "Oscars" ranked as TV's top entertainment telecast overall in 1 year - since last year's telecast on 03/02/14.
TV's biggest awards show, ABC's "The Oscars" towered over other key awards shows this year, outdrawing the 2015 "Golden Globe Awards" by 17.3 million viewers and 86% in Adults 18-49 (19.3 million/5.8 rating in AD18-49 on 1/11/15) and the 2015 "Grammy Awards" by 11.8 million viewers and 30% in Adults 18-49 (24.8 million/8.3 rating in AD18-49 on 2/8/15).
ABC's 2015 "Oscars" telecast reached an estimated 63.0 million unique television viewers across the U.S. - unduplicated Viewers 2+ watching 6-minutes or more during the broadcast.
Digital
Oscar.com experienced increased traffic compared to last year (despite this year's "Oscars" season being 1 week shorter than last year), with visits up 8% (18.3 million vs. 17.0 million) versus a year-ago.
From nominations week through "Oscar" Sunday, video views on the site posted solid growth, up 28% (8.0 million vs. 6.2 million), with video views/visits up 20% versus a year ago.
On "Oscar" Sunday alone, Oscar.com garnered over 7.1 million visits (+14%) with video views posting solid gains, up 46% (3.4 million vs. 2.3 million) versus the prior year.
Social Activity (SocialGuide)
According to Nielsen SocialGuide, a total of 13.0 million people saw 5.9 million tweets about ABC's "Oscars" on Sunday 2/22/15. These tweets were sent by 1.4 million people and generated 801.3 million Twitter TV impressions.
The most-tweeted about minute occurred at 11:21 p.m. ET (60,044 Tweets during the minute) as viewers applauded Lady Gaga's "Sound of Music" tribute and Julie Andrews' appearance.
Source: The Nielsen Company (Live + Same Day, Fast National Program Ratings) - 02/22/15. Site statistics based on Omniture data, 1/11-2/22/1, Oscar Sunday video views do not include the Live stream. Nielsen SocialGuide- total number of tweets 2/22/15.