Oscars ratings go up: 2013 Academy Awards most-watched entertainment telecast in 3 years

From left, Daniel Day- Lewis, with his award for best actor in a leading role for "Lincoln," Jennifer Lawrence, with her award for best actress in a leading role for "Silver Linings Playbook," Anne Hathaway, with her award for best actress in a supporting role for "Les Miserables," and Christoph Waltz, with his award for best actor in a supporting role for "Django Unchained," pose during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday Feb. 24, 2013, in Los Angeles. (AP)

Hosted by Seth MacFarlane, ABC’s broadcast of the the Oscars drew an average audience of 40.3 million Total Viewers and delivered a 13.0 rating among Adults 18-49, based on Nielsen’s “Fast National” ratings.

The 2013 Oscars became TV’s most-watched entertainment telecast in three years, since Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin co-hosted the 82nd Annual Academy Awards on March 7, 2010, according to an ABC news release.

To read my live blog of the Oscars, click here.

* The Oscars grew its overall audience for the 2nd straight year (+3%) and surged 11% in Adults 18-49 (13.0 rating vs. 11.7 rating) to its best numbers since 2010. Overall, it was the “Oscars’” 2nd-most-watched telecast since 2005. In addition the Seth MacFarlane-hosted show scored big gains year to year with Adults 18-34 (+20% – 11.3 rating vs. 9.4 rating), hitting its highest number in 6 years – since 2007. In addition the show posted strong double-digit year-to-year growth across all key Men: M18-34 +34%, M18-49 +16% and M25-54 +11%.

* TV’s biggest awards show, ABC’s the Oscars towered over other awards shows this year, outdrawing the 2013 Golden Globe Awards by 20.6 million viewers and 103% in Adults 18-49 (19.7 million/6.4 rating in AD18-49) and the 2013 Grammy Awards by 11.9 million viewers and 29% in Adults 18-49 (28.4 million/10.1 rating in AD18-49).

* With the Oscars Red Carpet Live pre-show, The Oscars’ telecast and “Jimmy Kimmel Live: After the Oscars,” ABC’s Oscar programming on Sunday reached 80.748 million unique television viewers across the U.S. – unduplicated Viewers 2+ watching 6-minutes or more during the broadcast.