TV Ratings: Oscar Telecast Grows to 40 Million Viewers With Host Seth MacFarlane

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With time-zone adjustments, final ratings for ABC's Oscar telecast have it slightly outperforming last year's total viewers but leaping double digits in the key demographic.

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After promising overnight and Fast National returns, the Seth MacFarlane-hosted broadcast ended up bringing in 40.3 million viewers between 8:30 p.m. and just after midnight ET. That marks a 3 percent bump from 2012.

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Nielsen data gives the 85th Academy Awards a much bigger jump in the key demo. The Oscars earned a 13.0 rating with adults 18-49. That's up 11 percent from last year.

The 2012 Oscars -- hosted by show veteran Billy Crystal, who replaced Eddie Murphy in the gig -- largely were steady from the previous year. The 39.3 million haul marked a 4 percent jump from 2011 and the final 11.7 adults rating was off by only a tenth of a point.

Despite the relatively even ratings of late, the show has fluctuated quite a bit in the past 10 years -- with the highest returns in 2004 (43.6 million, a 10 million jump from the previous year) and the lowest in 2008 with 31.8 million.

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ABC also got a boost with red carpet coverage. Oscar arrivals pulled a 5.0 adults rating at 7 p.m. ET, a 6.7 at 7:30 p.m. and a 9.2 at 8 p.m. The margin of improvement over the previous year's fast returns rose from 4 percent to 14 percent from the first half-hour to the last.

Among broadcast competition, Fox's largely MacFarlane-created animation lineup scored second place for the night with encores. The network averaged a 1.3 rating with adults 18-49 and 2.9 million viewers.

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Only CBS put up an original against ABC's big show. A new episode of The Amazing Race, bookended by repeats, dropped 28 percent to a series-low 1.8 adults rating. The network averaged a 1.1 adults rating and 5.7 million viewers. NBC repeats followed with a 0.8 adults rating and 2.8 million viewers.

Univision averaged a 0.8 rating with adults 18-49 and 2.3 million viewers.