Los Angeles, March 30 (TIWN) Viewership for the Oscars on ABC grew by 511,000 viewers during the 15-minute time span that featured Will Smith slapping Chris Rock, according to Live + Same Day Nielsen data.

According to 'Variety', while the Oscars' audience dipped from there, it spiked again during Smith's best actor win and acceptance speech shortly after 11 p.m. ET, this time by 614,000 viewers.

The most-watched portion of the entire show was the 15 minutes between 9:15 p.m. and 9:29 p.m., which saw 'CODA' star Troy Kotsur win best supporting actor.