Oscars See Preliminary Ratings Increase From Last Year

Ratings for the Academy Awards are up 4 percent over last year in a preliminary Nielsen measurement.

The ratings company said Monday that the Oscars had a 25.5 rating and 38 share in its overnight count of the nation's 56 largest media markets. Nielsen's estimate of how many people watched the telecast nationally was expected out later Monday.

Although top picture winner "The Artist" wasn't a big box office draw, the Oscars may have been helped by the return of longtime host Billy Crystal.

Each rating point represents 1 percent of the nation's estimated 114.7 million TV homes. The 38 share means that 38 percent of TVs being watched during the telecast were tuned to the Oscars.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)