Last night’s Academy Awards which saw “The Hurt Locker” prevail over 3D blockbuster Avatar for both best picture and best director reflected a growing trend of online Oscar chatter leading up to the awards.

Heading into the Academy Awards telecast on Sunday March 7, viewership is rising for several notable award shows. If this trend continues, this could mean good news for the Academy Awards, especially given overall movie ticket sales in 2009 and the Academy’s expansion of the best movie category from five to 10 films.

Nielsen’s list of the most-watched Oscar broadcasts since 1974:

RANK
DATE
NETWORK
BEST FILM
# OF VIEWERS P2+(MILLIONS)

1
3/23/1998
ABC
Titanic
55.2

2
4/11/1983
ABC
Gandhi
53.2

3
4/14/1980
ABC
Kramer vs. Kramer
49.0

4
4/3/1978
ABC
Annie Hall
48.5

5
3/27/1995
ABC
Forrest Gump
48.3

6
4/8/1975
NBC
GodfatherPart II
48.1

7
3/29/1976
ABC
One… Cuckoo’s Nest
46.8

8
3/26/2000
ABC
American Beauty
46.3

9
4/9/1979
ABC
Deer Hunter
46.3

10
3/29/1982
ABC
Chariots of Fire
46.2

source: The Nielsen Company (2009)

Despite waning viewership numbers—and a male audience that has gone MIA—award shows remain popular with advertisers, and even more so with artists who can see music sales climb as much as 700% one week after the show airs.

Movie buzz is up following the Golden Globes, SAG Awards and the nominations for the Academy Awards, but in recent years viewership for many award shows (including the Oscars) has actually been declining. Is it the host? The length of the broadcast? Or does it have something to do with the movies themselves?
According to a recent study by Nielsen Preview, viewership of the Academy Awards is directly impacted by the box office draw of the best picture nominees and the popularity of the host.
During the 2004 Academy Awards (hosted by …