The show received a negative reception from most media publications . John J. O'Connor of '' The New York Times '' wrote , " Instead of keeping things moving smartly , Mr. Letterman stuck with his late-night shtick , too often leaving the show 's pacing in shambles . " He also added , " Within the show 's first half-hour , with no strong hand at the helm , the audience simply sagged . Applause died long before most winners even reached the podium . " Television critic John Carman of the '' San Francisco Chronicle '' commented , " Last night on ABC , no one got it . Hollywood 's big event was wonderfully littered by technical errors , bad taste , low comedy and lower necklines . " Moreover , he remarked , " Letterman , the rookie host , was off his game in his opening monologue . Maybe it was the big auditorium . Or a billion people in the television audience . " Film critic Andrew Sarris of '' The New York Observer '' quipped , " Not only was he not witty or funny , he never knew when to let bad enough alone . " He concluded , " As the evening dragged on , it became obvious that Mr. Letterman had no gift for ad-libbing through the few unpredictable opportunities in a ' live ' event like the Oscars . " '' People '' named the ceremony as one of the worst television broadcasts of 1995 , remarking that Letterman was " a cranky skeptic who visit ed the high temple of show business , mock ed the gold-plated statuary and display ed insufficient reverence for the gods . ( Tom Hanks assisting with a stupid pet trick ?! ) We know who the winner was n't . " Some media outlets received the broadcast more positively . Television critic Joyce Millman of '' The San Francisco Examiner '' noted , " In his first stint as host of the Oscar telecast , David Letterman did the impossible — he made something entertaining from what is traditionally the most boring three hours of TV this side of a test pattern . " '' The Buffalo News '' columnist Alan Pergament praised Letterman 's performance as host writing " David Letterman was a box full of chocolates on an Oscar night that was empty of much emotion until the expected '' Forrest Gump '' sweep in the final 15 minutes . " He also added that despite a lack of surprises amongst the awards , the emotional and unexpected humorous moments provided depth and entertainment throughout the evening . Hal Boedeker of the '' Orlando Sentinel '' gave an average review of the ceremony but singled out Letterman noting that he " proved Monday night that he 's among Oscar 's Top 10 Hosts . He 's definitely at the top of the list with Johnny Carson , Billy Crystal and Bob Hope . " The American telecast on ABC drew in an average of 48.28 million people over its length , which was a 7 % increase from the previous year 's ceremony . An estimated 81 million total viewers watched all or part of the awards . The show also drew higher Nielsen ratings compared to the previous ceremony with 32.5 % of households watching over a 53 share . In addition , it also drew a higher 18 – 49 demo rating with a 21.7 rating among viewers in that demographic . It was the most watched Oscars telecast since the 55th ceremony held in 1983
previous year 's ceremony
66th Academy Awards
67th Academy Awards