The 80th Annual Academy Awards peaked at 4.6 million viewers on CTV, based on preliminary overnight data from Nielsen BBM Media Research, down from 2007’s peak of six million and following a similar course charted in the U.S. on ABC.

Ten million viewers tuned in to watch some or all of the broadcast throughout the night. The Oscars finished with an average audience of 4.4 million viewers, down from 2007’s average of 4.9 million. In 2005, the Oscars averaged 5.1 million viewers.

In Toronto, this year’s Oscars posted a 50 share among total viewers (same as last year), meaning that one out of every two televisions in use was tuned to the broadcast. The red carpet arrivals special eTalk at the Oscars attracted 613,000 viewers, with a national reach of nearly two million.

About 4.3 million Canadians tuned in to the last half-hour of the broadcast, when Ethan Coen and Joel Coen’s No Country for Old Men was named best picture.

Immediately following the Oscars, CTV’s world television premiere of Canadian best animated short nominee I Met the Walrus attracted 1.5 million viewers from 11:50-11:55 p.m. ET.

From Media in Canada