The Academy Awards drew 5.2 million Canadian viewers to CTV’s 3.5 hour-plus broadcast on Sunday night, according to preliminary overnight data from Numeris provided by Bell Media. That was down by nearly one million viewers compared with last year’s show, when an average audience of 6.12 million tuned in. Nearly 13 million unique viewers watched at least some of this year’s show.

However, it was all good news on the fashion beat, as CTV’s red carpet special, eTalk at the Oscars, drew the highest Canadian audience ever for an entertainment news program, according to the broadcaster. , with 1.34 million people tuning in.

That was followed by the U.S. Oscars Opening Ceremony: Live from the Red Carpet, which was the second most-watched show on Sunday, with three million viewers.

Both the Oscars and the opening ceremony were the top two programs in all metered markets.

Video viewing of CTV’s complementary Oscars clips and highlights online was nearly three times higher than it had been last year, including 55,000 views of the broadcaster’s press room camera feed.

Image (left to right): eTalk’s Jessi Cruickshank, Ben Mulroney, Danielle Graham and Lainey Lui