Oscar Dunks NCAA

ABC’s Oscar telecast Monday reversed a three-year decline in ratings, although only by a slight margin, A.C. Nielsen Co. estimates showed Tuesday.

The telecast averaged a 27.5 rating--two-tenths of a ratings point higher than last year, and a 43% audience share, which was identical to last year’s share. Its main competition for the first hour was the NCAA basketball telecast on CBS, which got a 19.6 rating. Each ratings point represents 874,000 homes.

From 6 to 7 p.m., when both shows went head-to-head, ABC had a 27.8 rating and a 42% share of the Los Angeles audience, compared to a 16.3 and 25% share for CBS.