36.6M total viewers watched the Oscars telecast on ABC

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- More than 36.6 million viewers tuned in for Sunday night's Oscars ceremony on ABC, the U.S. television network announced.

Neil Patrick Harris hosted the telecast, which honored excellence in cinema for 2014. The program ran more than 3 1/2 hours.

Birdman was declared Best Picture and Alejandro G. Inarritu, the auteur who helmed it, was named Best Director. Julianne Moore won Best Actress for her work in Still Alice and Eddie Redmayne took home the prize for Best Actor for his role in The Theory of Everything.

The show featured musical performances by Common and John Legend, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Hudson, Rita Ora, Adam Levine and Tim McGraw.