About 18-million people watched Oscars honour ‘Anora’

04 March 2025 - 06:42 By Lisa Richwine
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Mikey Madison holds the Oscar for the Best Actress for "Anora" next to producer Alex Coco with the Oscar for Best Picture for "Anora" at the Governors Ball after the 97th Academy Awards in Hollywood on March 2 2025.
Mikey Madison holds the Oscar for the Best Actress for "Anora" next to producer Alex Coco with the Oscar for Best Picture for "Anora" at the Governors Ball after the 97th Academy Awards in Hollywood on March 2 2025.
Image: REUTERS/Mike Blake

This year's Oscars telecast that honoured the independent film Anora brought in an estimated 18.1-million US viewers on television and streaming, according to data released by broadcaster ABC on Monday.

The audience for the highest honours in Hollywood fell 7% from the 2024 ceremony, when 19.5-million people tuned in to see the blockbuster biopic Oppenheimer take the best picture award.

Anora, an unconventional fairy tale about a sex worker and the son of a Russian oligarch, won this year's best picture prize and four other honours at the Academy Awards ceremony in Hollywood on Sunday night. The movie has brought in $40m (R746m) at global box offices, compared with nearly $976m (R18.1bn) for Oppenheimer.

Comedian Conan O'Brien hosted the Oscars for the first time and was generally applauded by TV critics. The show ran for nearly four hours and mostly avoided politics.

O'Brien “absolutely rocked his debut as a host, walking the perfect line between acid and affection,” wrote Owen Gleiberman of Variety.

“This was Conan at his acerbic best, giving Jimmy Kimmel a run for his money.”

Reuters


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