It was the Oscars most-awarded film in a decade.
And audiences seemed to respond, if only slightly.
The telecast also was up to a 4.0 demo rating, compared with last years 3.8.
Jonathan Wang accepts the Oscar for Best Picture on SundayPhoto by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
It went on to win Best Picture and 10 others.
Bringing backa tried-and-true hostlike Jimmy Kimmel also might have positively impacted ratings.
The last time Kimmel hosted was 2017 and 2018.
The following year, in 2019, Oscars viewership wasback up to nearly 30M.
That was also the year thatBlack Panther, which was a historic film that came in at No.
2 at the worldwide box office grossing $1.3 billion, was also nominated for Best Picture.
This year, the films sequelBlack Panther: Wakanda Foreverwas shut out of the Best Picture race.
