ABC wasn’t the only network to see a ratings boost for this year’s Oscars. E! more than doubled linear viewership for its post-show and more than quadrupled cross-platform audience engagement with its Oscars coverage amid interest in Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the ceremony, Variety has learned exclusively.
Led by new “Live From E!” host Laverne Cox, who replaced longtime E! emcee Giuliana Rancic after she hosted last season solo following many years paired with Ryan Seacrest, E!’s Oscars red carpet coverage was up 25% from last year. The pre-Oscars telecast averaged 670,000 total viewers, a nice enough bump from 2021’s COVID-restricted carpet. But it was E’s “After Party Show,” hosted by Nina Parker, Naz Perez and Shangela, that was up an impressive 128% (289,000 viewers) from last year.
Pre and post-show coverage of the 94th Academy Awards was the best performing live event in the NBCUniversal cable channel’s history in terms of overall multiplatform engagement, which counts linear TV viewing, digital page views, digital and social video views and social content responses (reactions, shares and comments).
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E! drew 321 million cross-platform engagements over Sunday and Monday, that total roughly split between both days, up 219% from last year’s Oscars coverage and rising 88% from content for 2020’s awards show. The Smith-Rock incident alone drew nearly 40 million engagements across E!’s digital and social.
This year’s E! Oscars coverage saw 13.5 million video minutes watched, up 39% year over year, driven by a push into Instagram Reels and TikTok.
Per E!, the two E! News digital-exclusive livestreams, which were available on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and E! Online, drew more than 5 million video views, and the Monday morning livestream “Post Pop” grew almost 50% from last year.
Additionally, E!’s website marked its greatest total time spent on E! Online since its redesign nearly 2 years ago, with 6 million uniques reached and 6.3 million video minutes watched.
