Last year's 2021 Oscars — which were plagued by COVID pandemic issues — were the lowest rated in history. So the 2022 Oscars on March 27 had every opportunity to be better -- the show made history, as it was the first time an all-Black producing team steered the Academy Awards.
Plus, after three years without a host, the telecast had a master of ceremonies — three, in fact, as Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes guided the show. (Wanda, by the way, said she planned to steal an Oscar to make up for the shoddy pay.) What other actors and actresses earned their statues the good ol' fashioned way? What moments fired up social media? What were the big surprises? The 94th Annual Academy Awards, it turned out, were as unpredictable as ever… Join us as we revisit the most talked-about moments... The good news the morning after? The 2022 Oscars drew a bigger audience than the all-time low ratings the show scored in 2021. The bad news? The viewership was still well below past years' figures. On March 28, The Hollywood Reporter reported the ratings -- which could still adjust upward after additional viewership (like streaming) is factored in -- revealing that the ABC broadcast saw 15.36 million viewers tune in, which is nearly 5 million more than the 10.4 million people who watched the 2021 ceremony. That said, the 2022 show was the second least watched show since Nielsen began tracking ratings in the mid-'70s. Online engagement, however, was massive: The show sparked huge numbers on Twitter and Variety's Trending TV chart, "pulling in more engagements than any other TV series, award show or broadcast — including the Super Bowl — since the chart's launch," Variety reported, with nearly 33 million engagements during the red carpet and telecast, thanks in large part to the Will Smith-Jada Pinkett Smith-Chris Rock drama.
