CTV’s 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. Ten million viewers tuned in to watch some or all of the broadcast throughout the night. The Oscars finished with an average audience of 4.43 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 was tuned to the broadcast. The red carpet arrivals special eTalk at The Oscars attracted 613,000 viewers with a national reach of almost two million. At 8 pm ET, Oscar’s Red Carpet 2008 with host Regis Philbin was the second-most watched program of the night with 2.8 million viewers. The Barbara Walters Oscar Special attracted 1.85 million viewers at 7 pm ET, down from 2.2 million in 2007.

About 4.3 million Canadians tuned in to the last half-hour of the broadcast when Ethan 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 Film nominee I Met the Walrus attracted 1.5 million viewers from 11:50-11:55 pm.

Click here for last year’s MiC Oscars coverage.