New York, Feb 24 : The 2009 Academy Awards have boosted the tumbling viewers ratings, as the number of people who tuned into their TVs to watch `Slumdog Millionaire' being crowned the best film at the Oscars was much higher than last year's figures.

The annual Oscars drew an estimated 36.3 million viewers, up 4.3 million from last-year''s record low.

It also stands as the most-watched entertainment program of any kind of the past two years, reports the New York Daily News.

However, the rise in audience was just momentary because the 2009 show was one of the three least-watched Academy Awards shows of all time.

Hosted by Hugh Jackman, the show was made with a plan to make it more interesting, as all award shows were seeing some viewing erosion.

Thus, in a bid to change the concept, bosses of the show didn't announce any of the presenters or performers in advance, in order to keep a surprise element for the viewers.

Last year, just over 32 million viewers tuned into see `No Country for Old Men' crowned best picture, which was down from the 2007 show, which averaged 40.17 million viewers when `The Departed' was the big hit.

The Oscars telecast in 1998, when "Titanic" dominated the awards, stands as the most-watched of all time with an audience of 55.2 million.

However, when set in the current viewing environment, the 2009 show was quite strong-almost 49 percent of the televisions turned on in New York were tuned to the Academy Awards.

In Chicago, 46 percent of the sets on were tuned to the show. And in Los Angeles, the site of the event, 44 percent of the sets were on ABC.

Figures have also revealed that almost 24.3 million tuned into ABC''s half-hour red carpet show leading into the big event.

The Academy Awards are also the biggest awards show of the year, topping the Primetime Emmys, which averaged 24 million in September. (ANI)