Oscars: Most-watched entertainment show in 3 years

Sunday night’s Oscars was the most-watched entertainment telecast in three years.

ABC’s broadcast of the Academy Awards delivered 40.3 million viewers and a 13.0 rating among adults 18-49. That’s up 3 percent among total viewers and a strong 11 percent in the demo. The growth makes sense given this year’s crop of best picture contenders such as Lincoln and Argo had more box office heft than last year’s frontrunners like The Artist. Also, tapping Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane as host might have aided the show’s 18-49 appeal (Billy Crystal hosted last year).

Overall, this was the second most-watched Oscars telecast since 2005. The Oscars easily topped all other award shows this season, outdrawing the Golden Globe Awards by 20.6 million viewers and the Grammy Awards by 11.9 million viewers.

Here’s Owen Gleiberman’s review of the show.