Oscar ratings outdo ‘Idol’s’

Oscar organizers can sigh with relief.

Their big night still outshone “American Idol” – barely.

Sunday’s 79th Annual Academy Awards on ABC racked up an average audience of 39.9 million viewers, according to early data from Nielsen Media Research, compared to 37.4 million for last month’s sixth-season premiere of the Fox singing contest.

Even so, it was the third-lowest Oscar viewer tally in at least 15 years.

The only smaller totals came in 2003 (33 million), when viewers were distracted by the start of the Iraq War, and last year (38.9 million).

The most-watched Oscar broadcast in recent history was the 1998 telecast,, when 55 million tuned in to see “Titanic” take best picture.