GLENN WEISS

The 95th Academy Awards, which aired Sunday night on ABC, was viewed by an estimated 18.7 million, according to preliminary Fast National Live+Same Day numbers released Monday by ABC. The evening’s main counterprogramming, the season finale of “The Last of Us” pulled in 8.2 million viewers across HBO and HBO Max. From the 43.7 million who watched in 2014, viewership declined steadily to 26.5 million in 2018, then went back up to 29.6 million in 2019, and 23.6 million in 2020. By Monday afternoon, Ke Huy Quan’s acceptance speech had over 1.3 million views on YouTube, and Brendan Fraser’s was up to 2.6 million. The ABC broadcast also had 1.8 million views of the American Sign Language live stream.

Whether it was the lingering drama of “The Slap” or the prominence of blockbusters in the best picture race, a bigger audience was lured back to the Oscars this year.

The opening of the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday is going to be a "moment," the show's producers promise. But Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner, this year’s executive producers and showrunners, are certain that it’s going to pull audiences in and keep them engaged for the duration. Any particular incident aside, I really love the thrill of live television.”Their goal this year is to celebrate a great year of movies. “I really think that the nominations have put so much interesting material in front of us,” Weiss said. I think that's what everyone wants.

The opening of the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday is going to be a “moment,” the show’s producers promise.

Jimmy Kimmel is ready to host the Oscars again, completing a trilogy that started with him presiding over the chaotic “envelope-gate" ceremony. “Being invited to host the Oscars for a third time is either a great honor or a trap,” Kimmel said. “Jimmy is the perfect host to help us recognize the incredible artists and films of our 95th Oscars,” added academy CEO Bill Kramer and academy President Janet Yang. and is married to Kimmel, will also serve as an executive producer on the Oscars broadcast. “Having Jimmy Kimmel return to host the Oscars is a dream come true.

Jimmy Kimmel is ready to host the Oscars again.

Jimmy Kimmel is ready to host the Oscars again, completing a trilogy that started with him presiding over the chaotic “envelope-gate" ceremony. The late-night talk show host will preside over the ceremony in March, the show’s producers said Monday. “We’re super thrilled to have Jimmy score his hat trick on this global stage,” executive producers and showrunners Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner said in a joint statement.

James Bond didn’t get an Oscar nomination this year, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be part of the ceremony.

The new host has not been announced.

The Opera House ceremony, to be televised Dec. 22, recognizes Bette Midler, Justino Diaz, Lorne Michaels, Berry Gordy and Joni Mitchell.

The 93rd Oscars will be held on April 25. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP, File)With nominations set and just over a month until showtime, details are trickling out about the 93rd Oscars and neither sweatshirts nor Zoom made the cut. They’ve enlisted Emmy and Tony Award winning director Glenn Weiss to direct the live broadcast on April 25. The producers said they plan to treat the event like an active movie set with on-site COVID safety teams and testing protocols. The 93rd Oscars will be broadcast live on ABC on April 25 starting at 8 p.m.

(AP Photo/John Locher)LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell are standing on the Oscars stage performing some hilarious material for a few dozen people who are in stitches watching the two comedians. Louis-Dreyfus and Ferrell are just a few of the stars who circulated in and out of the Dolby Theatre to rehearse Saturday, including Tom Hanks, Salma Hayek, Jane Fonda and Mahershala Ali. But the stars weren’t always confined to the stage, especially if they arrived a little early. Makeup artists Antonio Rael has been standing in for big stars for 34 years. Rael was talking about the stand-ins but that doesn’t mean some of the stars aren’t anxious as well.