In the 15 minutes following Smith's slap of Rock at 10:27 p.m. ET, viewership rose by 511,000 viewers, according to Variety based on Nielsen data, adding: "While the Oscars’ audience dipped from there, it spiked again during Smith’s best actor win and acceptance speech shortly after 11 p.m. ET, this time by 614,000 viewers." The most-watched portion of the ceremony came before The Slap, when CODA star Troy Kotsur won best supporting actor between 9:15 p.m. ET and 9:29. ALSO: Final Nielsen numbers reveal Oscar viewership rose 60% over last year's ceremony with 16.62 million viewers.
TOPICS: 94th Academy Awards, ABC, Chris Rock, Will Smith, Award Shows, Ratings