ABC's broadcast comes in about 3 million viewers behind the previous low in 2018.

ABC's Oscar telecast reached all-time lows in the ratings, falling sharply from last year.

The three-hour-plus kudocast averaged about 23.6 million viewers and a 5.3 rating among adults 18-49, well below the 29.56 million and 7.7 for 2019's awards ceremony — which aired two weeks later in the year. The Oscars were down 20 percent year-over-year in viewers and 31 percent in the key ad-sales demo of adults 18-49.

Last year's Oscars stopped a four-year ratings slide, growing the audience for the first time since 2014.

Sunday's awards show also falls well short of previous ratings lows for the Oscars, set in 2018. That year the telecast averaged 26.54 million viewers and a 6.8 rating in the demo; Sunday was down 11 percent in viewers and 22 percent in adults 18-49 from prior lows.

The Oscars join the Emmy Awards in suffering steep ratings declines. The September 2019 Emmy broadcast on Fox fell by 32 percent in viewers and 29 percent in adults 18-49 from the previous year. By comparison, the declines for January's Golden Globes (off by 4 percent in viewers and 10 percent in the 18-49 demo) and Grammy Awards (down 6 percent in viewers, 4 percent in the demo) were fairly slight.

Sunday's ceremony, which went without a host for the second straight year. ended at 11:32 p.m. ET. It was capped by a historic best picture win for Parasite, the first non-English-language film to take the top honor. Filmmaker Bong Joon Ho also won for best director and shared the best original screenplay award with Han Jin-won, while the pic was also named best international feature film.

The Oscars did maintain their status as the most-watched awards show — although the Grammys scored a slightly better 18-49 rating (5.4), the first time that has happened since 2012. Sunday's ceremony was the biggest entertainment special since last year's Oscars.

Bookmark THR.com/Ratings for more ratings news and numbers.