The host-free 2019 Oscars got a ratings bump following last year's all-time low

AP

Spike Lee won his first Oscar on Sunday for the best adapted screenplay of "BlacKkKlansman."

• The overnight ratings for the 91st Academy Awards are in and Sunday night's show is up 14% compared to the early numbers of last year's show.
• The Oscars are looking to rebound from last year's telecast, which was the lowest rated in history.

Thanks to no host, a few surprise wins, and a much anticipated duet by Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, the 91st Academy Awards on Sunday looks to have rebounded in the ratings compared to last year's all-time low.

Early rating numbers indicate that the telecast was up 14% from last year's show.

Last night's overnight numbers were 21.6/36 share in Nielsen's 56 metered markets results in the 8-11:15 p.m. ET slot, according to Deadline. Last year's overnight got an 18.9 and went on to have a 26.5 million rating, the lowest ever for the Oscars.

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It's a positive sign that the way the show was done this year - with no host, limiting the length of speeches, and shaving down the length of the musical performances - was the right move.

"If you book presenters properly and they are big enough stars, you don't need a host," Jeff Margolis, who directed the Oscars telecast eight times, told Business Insider.

And that turned out to be true, as presenters from the trio of Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Maya Rudolph at the start of the show to the "Wayne's World" reunion of Mike Myers and Dana Carvey to introduce best picture nominee "Bohemian Rhapsody" were big hits.

The show also had elements that made the casual Oscar fan tune in: the nominations for "Black Panther" (it won three Oscars), the first-ever win for Spike Lee (who won for best original screenplay), many of the big categories not having a huge frontrunner to win, and the must-see duet of Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga singing the best original song nominee "Shallow" from their movie "A Star Is Born" (which won the award).

The final ratings for the night will be released later in the day on Monday.