Oscar ceremony viewing hits 40 million

40 million people watched Sunday night's Academy Awards ceremony according to the latest figures.

Yet, despite the live viewership, the numbers still fall behind the 43.5 million total that the 2004 ceremony saw.

In recent years, the show has seen a drastic fall in the number of people watching, with last year's show - hosted by satirist Jon Stewart - earning the second-smallest audience since 1998.

This year's host, comedienne Ellen DeGeneres, received mixed reviews for her role.

The Washington Post described her performance as "crisp and unpretentious", whilst admitting that she unfortunately lacked "the stature of the legendary hosts of the distant past."

Only the second woman ever to have hosted the Oscar ceremony, DeGeneres confessed that it had been far harder than she had imagined.

She said: "I was scared to death and didn't know how I would do", but conceded that nonetheless it had been "an incredible experience."