Television ratings for the <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/oscars/" target="_blank">Oscars</a> rebounded from last year's record low, but the event does not have the appeal to viewers that it once had. Sunday's ceremony reached an estimated 15.36 million viewers, according to preliminary Nielsen company numbers released on Monday by ABC. A more detailed estimate is expected on Tuesday, with elements such as out-of-home viewing added. <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/film/2022/03/28/oscars-2022-winners-list-coda-wins-top-prize-on-films-biggest-night/" target="_blank"><i>Coda</i> won Best Picture</a>, but all of the winners and losers were overshadowed by Best Actor winner <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/film/2022/03/28/world-reacts-to-will-smith-hitting-chris-rock-at-the-oscars-a-deeply-personal-moment/" target="_blank">Will Smith storming the stage to slap comic Chris Rock</a> after a joke Rock made about Smith's wife, <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/lifestyle/wellbeing/2021/12/29/jada-pinkett-smith-opens-up-on-hair-loss-me-and-this-alopecia-are-going-to-be-friends/" target="_blank">Jada Pinkett Smith</a>. The 2021 ceremony, held in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, hit a low of 9.85 million viewers. That led to several changes in the Oscars, including the <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/film/2022/02/16/and-the-oscars-2022-hosts-are-amy-schumer-regina-hall-and-wanda-sykes/" target="_blank">addition of hosts</a> and awarding <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/film/2022/02/23/oscars-will-hand-out-eight-awards-ahead-of-broadcast/" target="_blank">eight categories before the broadcast</a> and editing them into the live show. While that seemed to help, an audience of 15 million is still below the 23.6 million people who watched the Oscars in 2020. Until last year, that was the smallest audience for an Oscars ceremony yet. Nielsen did not have more specific viewership numbers for Sunday's show. The research company Samba TV said its statistics indicated that about 1.5 million more households watched the Oscars after the Smith-Rock incident than were watching before. Viewership for live television events, with the notable exception of NFL football games, has been declining for several years with the advent of streaming and cord-cutting. Some Hollywood observers believe that the niche appeal of many films honoured by the Oscars also limited the audience.