Figures showed on Monday that US television ratings for the Academy Awards surged to their highest level in five years, probably boosted by the inclusion of box office giant Avatar in the best picture race.

An average of 41.3 million viewers watched Sunday’s show at the Kodak Theatre, a remarkable 14 per cent increase from last year’s telecast watched by 36.3 million, figures from the Nielsen media research company showed.

Since the 2005 awards, which averaged 42.1 million viewers, it was the largest television audience for an Oscars.

According to Nielsen, 70 million viewers watched at least six minutes of Sunday’s telecast.

The ratings boost was likely explained by the presence of the record-breaking Avatar in an expanded field of 10 best picture nominees, analysts say.

There has traditionally been a correlation between the box office figures of the best picture nominees and Oscar viewership, with nominees with high box office receipts leading to highly watched Oscar telecasts.

(article and photo source: 9 News)