The 97th Oscars will be on ABC on Sunday, March 2, 2025. The event begins at 7 p.m. ET and goes down at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. 

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hosts the event, which celebrates the best in film. 

The Academy gives out its Governors Awards November 17, and preliminary voting for the Oscars starts December 9. 

Nominations will be announced January 17. 

The host for the 2025 affair has not yet been named. 

The 96th Oscars happened March 10 and started at 7 p.m. for the first time. Jimmy Kimmel hosted, his fourth time in that role. 

Oppenheimer won Best Picture at last month’s event, beating out American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, Barbie, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, Past Lives, Poor Things and The Zone of Interest. 

Molly McNearney executive produced The 96th Oscars. 

The 96th Oscars on ABC drew 19.5 million viewers, up 37% from last year and the highest in four years.

ABC gave partial credit to the bigger numbers to the earlier start time of the broadcast. It didn’t hurt that films like Best Picture Oppenheimer and Barbie were huge box-office hits.

Viewing peaked in the final half-hour with 21.9 million total viewers.

The broadcast had a 3.81 rating among adults 18 to 49, according to fast national data from Nielsen. 

ABC said the Oscars’ audience was 14% bigger than the Grammys 105% higher than The Golden Globes and 333% higher than the Emmy Awards.

The Oscars were followed on ABC by an episode of Abbott Elementary, which scored a series high with 6.9 million total viewers and a 1.42 rating among adults 18-49.

Disney Advertising said it sold all of the advertising inventory for Sunday’s Oscars telecast.

Prices for 30-second spots ranged between $1.7 million to $2.2 million, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Advertising intelligence company Guideline's Forward Booking service found that advertisers are paying an average of about $1.4 million, up 18% from a year ago, when Guideline estimates that the ABC broadcast generated $66.2 million in ad revenue. Guideline gets it data from invoices in the traffic computers of major media agencies.

Traditionally one of TV’s most viewed non-sports events, the Oscars attracts sponsors that often create special commercials designed to connect with what is usually an engaged, affluent audience.

Advertisers of this year’s show include: Abbott Laboratories, Abbvie, Airbnb, Allstate, Astellas Pharma, Bank of America, Booking.com, Carnival Corp., Costar Group Inc.’s Homes.com, CVS, Diageo’s Don Julio brand, Discover Card, Doordash, Dunkin’ Donuts, Eli Lilly, Energizer Holdings, GetYourGuide, GlaxoSmithKline, Henkel, Intuit, Kenvue, Lionsgate, LVMH Group, Marshalls, MGM, Nerd Wallet, Nestle, Nissan’s Infiniti division, Panda Express, Peacock, Penney Opco, PepsiCo’s Mountain Dew and Baja Blast, Pfizer, Polestar, Procter & Gamble, Progressive, Rolex, Charles Schwab, Sirius XM Radio, Southwest Airlines, Starbucks, State Farm, Talking Rain Beverage’s Sparkling Ice, TikTok, UCB Inc., Ulta, Unilever, Universal Pictures, Verizon, Walmart, Walt Disney Studios, Wayfair and Whirlpool.

Several brands will be incorporated into the awards show. Don Julio will get an in-show moment; an integration with Rolex will celebrate this year’s winners; and Bank of America is ensuring people with disabilities can enjoy and access the program with ease.

There will also be a first-of-its-kind red carpet live stream with TikTok, Disney said.

“On March 10, Hollywood’s biggest night returns and we couldn’t be more excited, along with our incredible brand partners, to once again have the honor to celebrate the greatest in films and storytelling,” Disney president of global advertising Rita Ferro said. “The Oscars stage and telecast continues to be the break-through moment for the most impactful brand marketers to bring their own creative storytelling to the cultural forefront through new innovation and never-before-seen activations.”

The 96th Oscars will air March 10, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.

Jimmy Kimmel will host the 96th Oscars on ABC, and Molly McNearney will executive produce the broadcast. Kimmel hosts and executive produces Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC, and McNearney is executive producer and co-head writer. 

The Oscars happen Sunday, March 10, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. 

“After his triumphant return to the Oscars stage last year, we are honored to have Jimmy back to guide us through one of the most beloved celebrations in entertainment. He is such a valuable member of our Disney family, and we could not be more appreciative of him and his entire team,” Craig Erwich, president of ABC Entertainment, Hulu and Disney Branded Television Streaming Originals, said. “We are also grateful to have the multitalented Molly back on the producing team, and we have no doubt that this year will be a spectacular night celebrating the biggest films of the year.”

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hosts the Oscars. 

“We are thrilled about Jimmy returning to host and Molly returning as executive producer for the Oscars. They share our love of movies and our commitment to producing a dynamic and entertaining show for our global audience,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy president Janet Yang. “We are deeply grateful to Jimmy, Molly and their teams for their incredible creativity and partnership and for going on this ride with us again.”

Raj Kapoor is showrunner and executive producer, and Katy Mullan exec produces the event too. 

“Jimmy has cemented himself as one of the all-time great Oscars hosts with his perfect blend of humanity and humor, and Molly is one of the best live TV producers around. We are delighted to be working with them and their teams on the show,” said Kapoor and Mullan.

It will be Kimmel’s fourth time hosting the movie awards. 

“I always dreamed of hosting the Oscars exactly four times,” Kimmel said.

The 95th Oscars telecast on ABC drew an average audience of 18.7 million total viewers, up 12% from a year ago, according to Nielsen fast national ratings.

Viewership for the awards show grew for the second straight year and was the highest since 2020, but still well below the pre-streaming era, when the Academy Awards could be counted on to deliver 30 million homes.

The show generated a 4 rating among adults 18 to 49 years old, up 5%, Nielsen said.

The Oscars was the most-watched awards show on any network since 2020, topping The Grammy Awards and the Emmy Awards.

Also: Oscar Fans With Hulu in Sinclair Markets Saw ‘Everything Everywhere’ Win Despite ABC Blackout

According to Vizio’s Inscape data unit, The Oscars delivered 5.67% of all minutes watched on March 12, the most of any program.

Also: Disney Sells Out Oscar Commercials At Prices Between $1.6-$2.1 Million

Combined with red-carpet shows and other shoulder programming, The Oscars accounted for 7.52% of watch hours, nearly double the No. 2 show, The Players Championship golf tournament.

With The Oscars, ABC had 10.18% of minutes watched on Sunday and Saturday as well, Inscape said. ■

Despite a blackout of Sinclair Broadcast Group- owned ABC affiliates, Hulu Plus Live TV subscribers in Sinclair markets were able to stream Sunday night’s Oscars telecast.

A national feed of the Jimmy Kimmel-hosted coverage of the Academy Awards on ABC, owned by The Walt Disney Co., was made available by the Disney-controlled virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD), sources confirmed.

The feed was available only during the awards show, one of the most-viewed non-sports telecasts in most years. After the telecast, ABC again went dark in markets where Sinclair owns the ABC affiliates.

Also: Disney Sells Out Oscar Commercials At Prices Between $1.6-$2.1 Million

The feed could breach Sinclair’s affiliation agreement with ABC, although vMVPDs are treated differently from a legal and regulatory point of view than traditional cable and satellite MVPDs.

In its talks with Hulu, Sinclair is seeking carriage of its Tennis Channel, sources said.

Neither ABC nor Sinclair executives would comment on the record.

Negotiations with vMVPDs turned awkward this year, first with CBS affiliates opting out of a deal crafted by CBS owner Paramount Global and FuboTV, and then with Sinclair pulling its signals from Hulu. 

The CBS situation escalated when the network provided Fubo TV with a national feed of CBS programming, with local news and other station programming replaced by material from CBS.

Until Sunday night, ABC had not made network programming available to Hulu Plus Live TV subscribers. ABC shows can be found on Hulu the day after it airs on the network.

Late last week, the CBS Affiliate Board said it endorsed a new offer from Paramount and CBS that puts affiliates’ signals on FuboTV, Hulu Plus Live TV, YouTube TV and Paramount Plus.

“If a crisis between national nets and local stations was emerging, it now appears averted,” Wells Fargo media analyst Steven Cahall noted. “The CBS affiliate board has adopted a new deal for vMVPD carriage. Nexstar has also announced a carriage deal with YouTube TV showing larger broadcasters can go direct. Both deals indicate vMVPDs are not indifferent to local content.”

Cahall noted that Sinclair’s ABC affiliates “remain off of Hulu Live TV, and it looks like ABC offered its national feed to these subs last night during the Oscars.”  ■

Disney Advertising said it has sold out all of the commercials available on Sunday’s 95th Oscars telecast.

Most spots sold for between $1.6 million and $2.1 million.

Pfizer, Rolex and Verizon were among the top-level, or “proud” sponsors.

Participating sponsors include  Allstatem Amazon XCM, Applebee’s, Audible, AutoDesk, Booking.com,  Carnival, Paramount Plus, Chase, EJ Gallo, Constellation Brands, GSK, Henkel, Hulu, Hyundai, Intuit Turbo Tax, KDP Dr. Pepper, Liberty Mutual, Lucid Motors, Novartis, Progressive, Rocket Mortgage (Quicken Loans), Snapchat, Sony, Starbucksm Stellantis,  TIAA Cref, Universal, Volvo,  Warner Brothers and Walt Disney Motion Pictures. 

“This Sunday, we’re going to deliver an unforgettable night of television. Our sponsors showed up in full force, across every major category with new and custom creative, joining a spectacular evening celebrating the biggest achievements in storytelling and the moments that bring us together,” said Rita Ferro, president, Disney Advertising. “The Oscars is a cultural phenomenon at the center of creativity and entertainment –  and with Jimmy Kimmel back at the helm as host, our all-star production team is set to bring the magical night to movie fans, everywhere.” 

Disney said it is enabling brands to measure advanced audiences in the Oscars through an integration with measurement company VideoAmp.

Disney also works with EDO to measure the impact ads have on search activity.

Disney has a group of local Oscars sponsors. Among the new local spencers are ELF Cosmetics; Haverty’s; Lexus; The Honest Company; BMW; LAPAM / Israel Tourism; Mazda and Rolex. Those sponsors will be seen on the ABC Owned TV stations during On The Red Carpet Live and Countdown to Oscars 95. ■

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The 95th Oscars happens Sunday, March 12 on ABC. Jimmy Kimmel, host of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, hosts, and presenters include Halle Berry, Harrison Ford, Mindy Kaling, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Pedro Pascal, John Travolta, Antonio Banderas, Hugh Grant, Michael B. Jordan, Dwayne Johnson, Florence Pugh and Zoe Saldana. 

The event takes place at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. Kimmel also hosted the Oscars in 2017 and 2018. 

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gives out the Oscars to the best in film. Best Picture is between All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar: The Way of Water, The Banshees of Inisherin, Elvis, Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Fabelmans, Tar, Top Gun: Maverick, Triangle of Sadness and Women Talking. 

Rihanna will sing Lift Me Up, from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. David Byrne, Stephanie Hsu and trio Son Lux will perform “This Is a Life” from Everything Everywhere All at Once. Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava will sing “Naatu Naatu” from the movie RRR. 

Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes hosted the Oscars last year. There was no host in 2019, 2020 and 2021. 

Coda won Best Picture last year. The 94th Oscars is perhaps best known for Will Smith slapping Chris Rock. 

Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner are the Oscars showrunners, and executive produce the event with Molly McNearney. ■ 

Rihanna, who was seen by 118.7 million viewers when she performed at Super Bowl LVII, will be appearing at the Oscars, ABC and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced.

Rihanna will sing LIft Me Up, her Academy Award-nominated song from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever at the 95th Oscars on March 12.

The Academy Awards show is usually the most viewed show on television other than NFL games.

Rihanna is a nine-time Grammy Award winner and has eight multiplatform albums. LIft Me Up gives her her first Oscar nomination. The song’s music was written by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Garansson with lyrics by Tems and Ryan Coogler..

Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirschner are the executive producer and showrunners for the Oscars this year, which is being hosted by Jimmy KImmel. ■

Jimmy Kimmel, host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC, will host the 95th Oscars Sunday, March 12 on ABC. Kimmel hosted in 2017 and 2018. 

The Oscars, celebrating the best in film, happens at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. 

“Having Jimmy Kimmel return to host The Oscars is a dream come true,” said Craig Erwich, president, ABC Entertainment, Hulu & Disney Branded Television Streaming Originals. “As we see every night on his own show, Jimmy can handle anything with both heart and humor, and we know that he will deliver the laughs and celebratory moments that define the Oscars. We love being the home of Hollywood’s biggest night and can’t wait to toast the success of this year’s cinema and storytelling.”

Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner are executive producers and showrunners of the event. Molly McNearney is an executive producer too. “We’re super thrilled to have Jimmy score his hat trick on this global stage,” Weiss and Kirshner said. ”We know he will be funny and ready for anything!” 

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards the Oscars, also known as the Academy Awards. 

“Being invited to host the Oscars for a third time is either a great honor or a trap,“ Kimmel said. ”Either way, I am grateful to the Academy for asking me so quickly after everyone good said ‘no.’ ” ■

Entertainment Tonight and Inside Edition both saw big gains in the week ended April 3, which included the magazines’ post-Oscars coverage on Monday, March 28. 

CBS Media Ventures’s Entertainment Tonight improved 28% for the week and 15% for the year to hit an eight-week high 2.3 live plus same day national household rating, according to Nielsen, in the week ended April 3. And on March 28, Entertainment Tonight exploded 56% with its next-day coverage of Best Actor winner Will Smith’s shocking on-stage slap of presenter Chris Rock.

CBS’s less-entertainment-focused genre leader Inside Edition recovered 20% after two weeks of losses to a 2.4 and added 35% to a 2.7 on Oscar Monday. 

NBCUniversal’s Access Hollywood was preempted for breaking news in several markets, but still managed to improve 13% to a 0.9 on Oscar Monday, maintaining its 0.8 weekly household rating. That tied Fox’s TMZ, which forged ahead 14% for the week and hit a 0.9 on Oscars Monday. Warner Bros.’ Extra was the only magazine in the top five to match its season high, spiking 17% to a 0.7 for the week and 33% on March 28 to a 0.8.

CBS’s canceled DailyMailTV rose 20% to a 0.6 with a 0.7 on March 28. Fox’s Dish Nation jumped 50% to a 0.3 from a 0.2. 

Shows in general were boosted by a lack of March Madness preemptions for the first time in three weeks.

CBS’s Jeopardy! regained the game show and overall syndication lead, jumping 10% to a 5.6. Debmar-Mercury’s Family Feud, which had been the overall leader for the prior two weeks, inched up 2% to a 5.3. CBS’s Wheel of Fortune accelerated 13% to a 5.2. 

Fox’s You Bet Your Life and 25 Words or Less both leaped 14% to a 0.8. Entertainment Studios’ Funny You Should Ask held at a 0.4 for a third week.

Disney’s internet video show RightThisMinute remained at a 0.6 for a ninth straight week. 

Disney’s Live with Kelly and Ryan reigned over talk for the fourth week in a row with a 13% gain to a 1.8, matching its season high. Live scored a 21% increase over its prior-week average for its annual after-Oscars show with a 2.1 individual-day rating. Compared to the same week last year, which did not include the Oscars, Live moved up 13%. Live also led among daytime’s key demographic of women 25-54 with a 0.7.

CBS’s Dr. Phil also jumped 13% for the week to a 1.7, marking a 6% improvement over last year at this time. NBCU’s Kelly Clarkson tied Warner Bros.’s concluding Ellen DeGeneres for third place in talk, shooting up 13% for the week and the year to a 0.9. Ellen was partially preempted in eight of the top 20 markets, including New York and Los Angeles, on March 28 by a news conference with President Joe Biden, but the show held its ground for the week at a 0.9 and outperformed its year-ago rating by 13%.

Debmar-Mercury’s Wendy Williams, which will be replaced next season by Debmar-Mercury’s Sherri, remained at a 0.8 with guest hosts Carson Kressley and Vivica Fox, tying CBS’s Rachael Ray, which rallied 14%. Disney’s Tamron Hall strengthened 17% to a 0.7 to tie NBCU’s concluding Maury, which stayed put.

The rest of the chat pack was flat. NBCU’s Steve Wilkos, CBS’ renewed sophomore Drew Barrymore, canceled newcomers Debmar-Mercury’s Nick Cannon and Sony’s The Good Dish, NBCU’s out-of-production Jerry Springer, Warner Bros.’ canceled The Real and the departing Doctors all flatlined at 0.6, 0.5, 0.4, 0.4, 0.3, 0.3 and 0.2, respectively.

CBS’s Judge Judy was the only court show to improve over last year at this time, even though it’s airing only in repeats. Judy grew 7% for the week and 4% for the year to a category-leading five-week high 4.8. 

CBS’s Hot Bench advanced 7% to a 1.5. Warner Bros.’ People’s Court rebounded 14% to a 0.8. Warner Bros.’ Judge Mathis returned a 0.6 for the seventh time in eight weeks. Fox’s Divorce Court clawed back 25% from a series low to a 0.5. NBCU’s Judge Jerry, which is ending after this season, stayed at a 0.4 for an eighth consecutive week, tying Wrigley Media’s steady rookie Relative Justice, which is expected to return for season two.

Warner Bros.’ The Big Bang Theory orbited at a 2.0 for the third week in a row. Disney’s Last Man Standing stepped up 8% to a 1.3. Warner Bros.’ rookie Young Sheldon shot up 11% to a 1.0. Disney’s Family Guy galloped ahead 14% to a 0.8, tying Disney’s Modern Family and Warner Bros.’ Two and a Half Men, both of which stabilized at a 0.8. Sony’s The Goldbergs garnered a second-straight 0.7, tying Sony’s Seinfeld, which stood pat for a third consecutive week. Finally, Warner Bros.’ Mike & Molly and Mom and Disney’s Black-ish were all on par with the prior week’s 0.5. ■

B+C has partnered with always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company iSpot.tv to bring you a weekly chart we call Promo Mojo: exclusive data showing TV’s most-promoted programming ranked by ad impressions. Our data covers the seven-day period through March 27.

The 2022 Oscars telecast is No. 1, while our previous chart-topper, NBC’s American Song Contest, slips to second place.

The rest of the ranking is all about cuisine. Food Network grabs third place to cook up some excitement for its new reality competition The Julia Child Challenge (up from fourth place last time) and fifth to hype the eighth season of Spring Baking Championship (which was absent from last week’s chart). Meanwhile, TBS hypes its new Rat in the Kitchen in fourth place.

Notably, the Oscars promo has the week’s highest iSpot Attention Index (124), meaning viewers were on average highly likely to watch it all the way through (vs. interrupting it by changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fast-forwarding or turning off the TV).

1) 2022 Oscars, ABC

Impressions: 493,051,340

Interruption Rate: 1.48%

Attention Index: 124 (24% fewer interruptions than avg.)

Imp. Types: National 89%, Local 9%, VOD/OTT 2%

In-network Value: $7,113,193

Out-of-network Est. Spend: $897,532

2) American Song Contest, NBC

Impressions: 363,391,081

Interruption Rate: 1.96%

Attention Index: 100 (0% fewer interruptions than avg.)

Imp. Types: National 94%, Local 5%, VOD/OTT 1%

In-network Value: $1,783,595

Out-of-network Est. Spend: $367,420

3) The Julia Child Challenge, Food Network

Impressions: 198,748,914

Interruption Rate: 1.43%

Attention Index: 102 (2% fewer interruptions than avg.)

Imp. Types: National 99%, Local 0%, VOD/OTT 1%

In-network Value: $723,996

Out-of-network Est. Spend: $0.00

4) Rat in the Kitchen, TBS

Impressions: 180,845,335

Interruption Rate: 1.99%

Attention Index: 106 (6% fewer interruptions than avg.)

Imp. Types: National 98%, Local 2%, VOD/OTT 0%

In-network Value: $1,730,669

Out-of-network Est. Spend: $161,926

5) Spring Baking Championship, Food Network

Impressions: 176,781,005

Interruption Rate: 1.39%

Attention Index: 108 (8% fewer interruptions than avg.)

Imp. Types: National 99%, Local 0%, VOD/OTT 1%

In-network Value: $638,143

Out-of-network Est. Spend: $0.00

* Data provided by iSpot.tv, TV Ad Measurement for Disruptive Brands *

For more information about Promo Mojo — including the chart positions of promos beyond the top five — contact mediapartnerships@ispot.tv.

Impressions: The total impressions within all U.S. households including National Linear (Live & Time-shifted), VOD plus OTT, and Local.

Attention Score: Measures the propensity of consumers to interrupt an ad play on TV. The higher the score, the more complete views. Actions that interrupt an ad play include changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fast-forwarding or turning off the TV.

Attention Index: Represents the Attention of a specific creative or program placement vs. the average in its respective industry. The average is represented by a score of 100, and the total index range is from 0 through 200. For example, an attention index of 125 means that there are 25% fewer interrupted ad plays compared to the average.

Impression Types: Impression types tracked include National (Live + Time-shifted), Local, VOD & OTT. See below for further details.

In-Network Value: Estimated media value of in-network promos.

Out-of-Network Spend: The estimated amount spent on TV airing time for this promo's spots during a given date range.

National: Live: A national promo which was viewed during live linear television broadcast or same day, via DVR or on-demand.

Local: A promo that was aired during a local ad break slot.

VOD: This includes promos that run in on-demand content past three days (i.e. do not contain the linear promo load).

OTT: On-demand streaming content (i.e. Hulu, Roku, Fire TV Stick, Chromecast).

Below is a snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of March 21-27, showcasing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and network and show TV ad impressions insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 19 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament continues to be a cut above other programming, with 5.13% of TV audiences tuned in from March 21-27. That was No. 1 on the week — nearly 5x more than the No. 2 program, the PGA Tour’s WGC Match Play.

Some additional insights about the top programming on TV:

• This year’s NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament has recorded more watch-time gains, jumping from 0.53% to 0.62% of minutes watched week-over-week.
• The Oscars starred on Sunday night, landing at No. 5 for watch-time on the week.
• Along with the Oscars, there were two additional week-over-week newcomers to our top 25 most-watched rankings — Forensic Files (up from No. 36) and NCIS: Los Angeles (from No. 40).
• Speaking of, there are 10 different procedurals featured among this week’s top 25 programs, led by Law & Order: Special Victims Unit at No. 3.

CBS stays top-dog in our ranking of the most-watched networks, with 8.85% of minutes watched from March 21-27. Of course, that’s due in large part to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, with two more rounds of games from Thursday through Sunday.

More insights around the most-watched networks from March 21-27:

• With TBS and CBS splitting Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games for the men’s tournament, TBS moves up to No. 6 by minutes watched in our network ranking.
• News remains a focus, as Fox News and CNN remain in the top 10 by watch-time, while MSNBC rises from No. 18 to No. 15 week-over-week.
• Paramount Network leaned into Yellowstone once again to fuel a leap from No. 40 to No. 24 by week-over-week watch-time.
• INSP also emphasized Westerns (Gunsmoke, in particular) to power its own climb from No. 27 by minutes watched from March 14-20, to No. 25 this week.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

Even with fewer tournament games than the previous week, men’s college basketball still outpaced all other programming in terms of delivering TV ad impressions from March 21-27, with 7.52 billion -- or 14.1% of all impressions for the week.

More data about the top programs by TV ad impressions:

• The Oscars sit securely at No. 5 by impressions, with over 788 million, despite fewer ad airings than any other program in this week’s top 25.
• News stays front-and-center, with nearly half of our weekly rankings occupied by news-related programs (led by Good Morning America at No. 3).
• With both the men’s and women’s tournaments in later rounds, SportsCenter also received a boost by airing highlights from all of the action, as ESPN’s flagship show increased week-over-week impressions by 38%.
• After The Bachelor’s latest season wrapped up, American Idol came for the reality TV crown, landing at No. 13 by impressions this week (up from No. 22 the previous week).

CBS stays entrenched at No. 1 in our ad-impressions-by-network ranking for March 21-27, with nearly 21% of TV ad impressions.

Additional insights around the top networks by impressions from the week:

• TBS rises week-over-week as the network climbs to No. 6 by impressions due primarily to NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament games.
• ESPN2 impressions jump by over 19% week-over-week due in part to the network’s emphasis on NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament games.
• Spring training powered MLB Network impression increases as well, up almost 24% compared to the previous week’s totals.

Among the commercials that aired during Sunday’s surprise-filled Oscar telecast, a spot for electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors performed the best, according to EDO, a research company that measures how much search traffic results from a commercial airing.

EDO said the Lucid spot was responsible for about 1 million additional searches.

The auto category as a whole was a strong performer, generating 33% of the total search during the ad breaks in the awards show. Last year, auto commercials generated just 18% of search traffic.

Other top performing ads were for Grey Goose, the Disney bundle and two airings of a spot for Rolex.

Also: Media and Entertainment Brands Dominate Oscar Commercial Breaks.

Like last year, ads for movies and TV shows generated just under half all of the searches that were initiated during the Oscar cast.

Lightyear, from Disney and Pixar, generated about 402,000 additional online searches.

Following Lightyear on the search leaderboard were trailers for The Girl from Plainville, Under the Banner of Heaven, Candy and The Offer.

EDO’s viewership figures show the audience peaking about one hour and 20 minutes into the show. When Will Smith hand found Chris Rock’s face viewership spiked again, though not quite reaching peak levels. Over the next half hour, viewership dropped back, eventually falling below pre-altercation levels.

According to another research company, Samba TV, this year’s Oscars were watched by 11.5 million U.S. households, up 32% from a year ago.

Samba TV said that after the slap 1.5 million new households tuned in to watch what happened next at the Oscars.

”Even before the slap heard around the world drew huge attention to the Oscars, it was clear this year‘s awards show was on track to outperform last year’s ceremony. The 11.5M households that opted to tune in live to this year’s awards was a clear break from the declining awards show trend we saw in 2021,” said Cole Strain, head of measurement at Samba TV.

“Streaming may have played a role in broadening interest for the films this year as viewers were able to easily watch all of the best picture nominees from the comfort of their home before Sunday night,” Strain added. “Our data showed that Best Picture winner, CODA, actually experienced the single largest post Oscar nomination bounce in streaming viewership - a sign that all of the generated Oscar buzz played a helpful role in introducing new audiences and new academy voters to the film.”■

Of the 104 commercials that aired during ABC’s coverage of the 94th Academy Awards, 38% were for the media and entertainment category, up from 24% a year ago, according to MediaRadar.

Disney pulled out the stops to support its own shows, with a 45 second spot for The Kardashians, whose new show will be on Hulu, and Abbott Elementary, the freshman comedy, which got a 30-second spot during the Oscars.

Apple TV Plus, which became the first streaming service to win an Oscar for Best Picture for CODA, led a parade of commercials for streaming services. Also represented were Disney Plus, Discovery Plus, Peacock and CNN Plus, set to launch on Tuesday. 

MediaRadar said that during January and February WarnerMedia spent $375,000 advertising CNN Plus.

Other categories making the scene at the Oscars including technology, which accounted for 14% of the commercials. Finance accounted for 7% of the spots, and in the auto category, Mercedes had five of the seven commercials for cars. ■

Will Smith slapped Chris Rock onstage at the Oscars, after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Rock made a quip that referenced Pinkett Smith’s shaved head. Pinkett Smith lives with alopecia, which causes hair loss. 

“Jada, I love you,” said the comedian. “G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait.”

Demi Moore had shaved her head for her role in the 1997 movie G.I. Jane. 

Pinkett Smith rolled her eyes after the joke was made. Smith walked onstage and slapped Rock. After returning to his seat, he twice shouted, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth,” as ABC bleeped out the curse. 

Also: The Streaming Oscars Finally Arrive; When Will the Streamed Oscar Ceremony Come?

Rock, evidently shaken, said, "That was uh, greatest night in the history of television."

Smith later won best actor for his role in King Richard, his first Oscar. In his speech, he apologized to the Academy and to his fellow nominees for his behavior, but did not mention Rock. An emotional Smith noted that Richard Williams, who he played in the movie about Venus and Serena Williams, “was a fierce defender of his family.”

Smith added, “I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things.”

CNN and other outlets reported that the Los Angeles Police Department said Rock declined to file a police report.

Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes hosted the Oscars on ABC. 

Coda won best picture, the first time a streaming service, Apple TV Plus, has won the Academy Award for best picture. ■

Partway through the HBO historical drama The Gilded Age, presiding doyenne Mary Astor complains to a confidant about the influx of Robber Baron nouveau riche hoping to crash The 400, her zealously tended roster of the “acceptable” society families in 19th Century New York City. 

The problem, her confidant noted, is if you try to keep them all out, they’ll just start their own high society and cut you out. You have to let some in. 

We are now at that point with a very different and equally fusty exclusive society, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, which finally has been “letting some in” these past few years, in response to #OscarsSoWhite, #MeToo, and #BlackLivesMatter, and a push for broader international representation. Now, add streaming to the list of movements in more or less full standing with the Academy as it recognizes the full business and art of cinema. 

Finally, after the most eventful and emotion-stirring awards in many years, the Motion Picture Academy gave out its first Streaming Best Picture Oscar to CODA, a Sundance darling otherwise watched almost solely through Apple’s two-year-old Apple TV Plus. 

Now, the big question: with a Best Picture Oscar and Ted Lasso’s Best Comedy Emmy already in hand, will Apple CEO Tim Cook disclose more financial details about Apple TV Plus than the occasional sizzle reel at product announcements? Nah, probably not. 

CODA also won adapted screenplay for director Sian Heder and a historic supporting actor statue for deaf actor Troy Kotsur, whose signed acceptance speech was an emotional highlight in a night stuffed with them.

In winning, CODA beat out early insider favorite The Power of the Dog for Best Picture, leaving distributor Netflix once again at the altar, but so proud to be there, especially after Jane Campion made history by winning Best Director, only the third woman to do so.  Netflix’s deeply polarizing satire Don’t Look Up also made the big 10, but was shut out amid all three of its nominations. 

It was in some ways an even bigger night for another film that lived as much online as off, WarnerMedia’s Dune. The sci-fi epic won six Oscars, the most of the night, for behind-the-camera categories cinematography, editing, visual effects, sound, score, and production design. 

Though Dune’s $400 million global box office gross was by far the most successful theatrical film release of the 10 Best Picture nominees, it likely also was one of the two or three most watched online, too, debuting on HBO Max the same day it hit theaters. Third-party metrics from several companies suggest that lots of pandemic-wary fans skipped theaters to watch or re-watched its vast scope unfold on their big-screen TV at home. 

The good news for WarnerMedia, as it prepares to spin out of the uncertain embrace of AT&T and into the even more uncertain embrace of Discovery, is that Denis Villeneuve’s enchanting translation of Frank Herbert’s classic novel only covers the first half of the sprawling book. A sequel is already underway.

Even better, the first Dune novel spawned five sequels by Herbert and another 21 prequels co-written by his son. There’s enough IP to keep the company busy until long after Warner Bros. Discovery gets sold to a cryptocurrency company. 

Kotsur’s delightful and thoughtful speech was soon upstaged, when an outraged Will Smith charged the stage to slap presenter Chris Rock in the face for joking about his wife’s hair-loss challenges. 

Minutes later, Smith won his first Oscar, for WarnerMedia’s King Richard, the story about the father of two of the greatest tennis players in history, Venus and Serena Williams. Like Dune, it got a simultaneous streaming and theatrical release. Given its mediocre theatrical showing ($38 million worldwide), most of the viewing happened online, far from the hacking coughs of Delta-variant theater attendees.  

A tearful Smith used his awards speech to apologize to the academy and other nominees, though not to Rock, saying of the character he played in King Richard, “Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family … Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, like Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things.” 

Even Costume Design went to a film that lived large online, Cruella. With the pandemic raging, Disney sent Jenny Beavan’s over-the-top designs and all the rest to Disney Plus in late May as part of its short-lived Premium VOD experiment. Though Cruella fashioned $233 million in theaters, the live-action prequel-reboot-whatever also was sold to Disney Plus subscribers for $30. 

Disney’s Encanto won Best Animated Feature, even though it and two other Mouse House animated nominees, Luca and Raya and the Last Dragon, only ran on Disney Plus. Encanto’s biggest competition was a Netflix film produced by Sony, The Mitchells vs. The Machines. 

The Best Documentary Feature winner, Summer of Soul (…Or When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised), was finally televised, on Hulu, half a century after its joyful musical performances were first recorded on a Harlem outdoor stage. After an opening-night debut last year at Sundance (against CODA), Summer grabbed only $3.7 million in theaters, but likely became a video soundtrack for a lot of house parties thanks to its Hulu presence. 

As director Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson put it in another emotional speech, “this is a film that (my parents) should have taken me to when I was 5.” That didn’t happen, but the Academy seemed delighted to atone for the historic oversight that left festival footage in storage for decades.  

Before Kotsur, Thompson, and Smith did their bits to make this Oscar ceremony truly electric, I was pondering how long such a show can remain on broadcast. Yes, it’s still one of the bigger non-NFL ratings attractions. And yes, Disney used it to cross-promote nearly everything related to video that it makes, from local news to a handful of Hulu series, the Disney streaming bundle, breakout ABC hit Abbott Elementary and more.  

The advertisers included big names such as Rolex, whose homage to cinema seemed relatively tone-deaf next to repeated and simple fundraising ads in support of Ukraine by blockchain company crypto.com. The Academy relies on revenues from the Oscar telecast as a major bulwark in its operations, including film preservation, education and other programs, so as long as the advertisers keep showing up, maybe Oscar will too. 

But it’s also possible that, like so many other stalwart components of traditional broadcast/basic cable programming, as some point the Oscars will be streamed as much as the movies they’re awarding. 

Online, having the show run late might be less of an issue, allowing viewers to dispense with segments they don’t care about, or add new ones. One small addition this year was fan polls (notable outcome: Netflix’s zombie apocalypse Army of the Dead was the No. 1 “fan favorite movie”). Maybe we can start adding live prop bets, interactive data on previous award trends, and gambling courtesy of Draft Kings or MGM Mirage? 

As well, the Academy could add an even more inclusive In Memoriam segment, better honor those banished categories, dive deeper into the lifetime achievement award winners and make it easier to understand what the science and technology winners actually won for. And certainly, many fans might enjoy deeper explorations of such favorites as the James Bond franchise and The Godfather trilogy, which both had brief anniversary spotlights Sunday night.

A streamed awards show might even provide room for a new category or two, like one for stunt performers. Why not? The academy actually has come quite a ways over the past five years (though admittedly, from very far back). Maybe there are still a few steps forward that it can take.

With movie lovers watching films at home instead of going to theaters this year, Samba TV said the trends its seeing in streaming could help predict the Best Picture winner at Sunday’s Oscars.

The envelope please.

Samba TV said that the film that most streamed since the Oscar nominations came out is Nightmare Alley.

Also; Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer, Regina Hall To Host Oscars

The film that had the biggest percentage change in viewership after the nominations came out compared to before was CODA.

The most-streamed film was Netflix’s Don’t Look Up, with nearly double the viewership of the second most streamed film, Dune.

Also: Disney Says It’s a Wrap With Oscars Commercials Sold Out

The most watched movie in the Los Angeles DMA, where the most Academy voters live, is West Side Story. The Steven Spielberg film was the only nominee to over-index in L.A. 

And the film with the least post-Oscar interest was Don’t Look Up. While it had the most viewing overall only 6% of that happened after it was nominated for best picture, according to Samba.

“There is a tight race forming for this year’s best picture. While much of the media attention has focused on front runners like CODA and The Power of the Dog, if streaming audiences decided the winner, then we might be in for an upset for either Nightmare Alley, which has picked up streaming momentum since February, or Don't Look Up, which has been streamed by more households than any other best picture nominee,” said Cole Strain, Samba TV’s VP of measurement products.

“If Academy voters who live in Los Angeles have their way we might see another upset as Los Angeles seems to have embraced West Side Story as the only movie to over index in the market, perhaps giving Steven Spielberg the inside track to pick up another best picture win,” Strain said. ■

Disney Advertising Sales said that the commercial inventory for Sunday’s Oscars telecast is sold out.

The top tier of sponsors — ”proud sponsors” — include newcomers Crypto.com and, Pfizer, as well as returning sponsors Rolex and Verizon. Proud sponsors get four spots in the telecast.

While traditional TV viewership is dropping, and even major events like the Academy Awards have seen their ratings plunge, streaming services have clamored to be seen by movie fans on the ABC broadcast.

Among the Oscars participating sponsors are Paramount Plus, CNN Plus, Discovery Plus, Disney Plus and Peacock. Digital companies Amazon, Google, Meta and Snapchat have also signed up, recognizing there is still life in good old broadcast TV.

Other participating sponsors include: Anheuser-Busch’s Michelob, Bacardi’s Bombay and Sapphire brands, Bank of America, Best Buy, Capital One, Corona, Eli Lilly, Geico, Incyte, Kellogg, Kraft, Lionsgate, Lucid Motors’ Macy’s Mastercard, Reckitt’s Mucinex, State Farm, Stellantis, Subway and Walt Disney Studios.

Revenues for the broadcast are in line with last year, with prices for individual spots up from a year ago.

“With Hollywood’s most iconic night just around the corner, we’re honored to support the best and brightest in film in collaboration with our unrivaled roster of brand partners,” said Rita Ferro, president, Disney Advertising. “The Oscars pushes the boundaries of creativity and storytelling, and advertisers that tap into that cultural zeitgeist on the right screen at the right time are able to create the most impact across all categories and audiences.”

Disney Advertising’s Local offering, inclusive of Hulu, locked in a broad range of sponsors by providing advertisers geotargeting capabilities to reach audiences at the local and regional level. Local Oscar advertisers include Mercedes Benz, Spectrum, Henkel, BMW and Lexus.

With movie theaters largely closed and many major film releases delayed, the 2021 Oscar telecast drew 10.4 million viewers, less than half the 23.6 million tuning in in 2020. Ratings peaked in 2014 with 43.7 million viewing for the show, long regarded as one of TV's biggest draws after the Super Bowl.

Disney noted that Oscar advertisers often roll out new creative and new campaigns. The broadcast helps generate higher ad awareness and purchase consideration and Oscar viewers are more likely to recommend brands seen during the show, the company said.

The 94th Oscars will be held on Sunday, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide. ■

Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer and Regina Hall will host the 2022 Oscars, which happens March 27 on ABC. The trio shared the news on Good Morning America February 15. 

"This year's show is all about uniting movie lovers," said Will Packer, Oscars producer. "It's apropos that we've lined up three of the most dynamic, hilarious women with very different comedic styles. I know the fun Regina, Amy and Wanda will be having will translate to our audience as well. Expect the unexpected!"

Hall hosted the 2019 BET Awards, Schumer hosted the 2015 MTV Movie Awards and Sykes hosted the 2018 GLAAD Media Awards.

The Oscars went without hosts in 2019, 2020 and 2021. The last three-host approach was 1987, with Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn and Paul Hogan.

Hall has been in the Scary Movie franchise and films such as The Best Man and Girls Trip. 

Schumer starred in Comedy Central’s Inside Amy Schumer, and her films include Trainwreck and Snatched. Her Hulu show Life & Beth premieres March 18. Sykes has been in The New Adventures of Old Christine and Black-ish. She hosted an eponymous talk show from 2009 to 2010 on Fox and wrote for The Chris Rock Show. ■

Will Packer was named to produce the 94th Academy Awards, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced Tuesday.

Award shows have been struggling because traditional star-studded gatherings have been prevented by the pandemic. The Oscars — historically one of most-viewed shows of the year other than football — have been particularly hard hit because movie openings have been delayed until people can go to the theaters safely.

This year’s Oscars telecast on ABC drew 10.4 million people, down 56% from the previous year.

“Will is a powerhouse producer who has enjoyed success across all movie genres. He’s already bringing a boundless energy and a focus on innovation to this year’s Oscars to entertain the widest spectrum of fans,“ Academy president David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson said in a statement. “Many wonderful surprises ahead!” 

“There is no one better than Will Packer to celebrate our collective love for cinema,” added Craig Erwich, president, Hulu originals and ABC Entertainment. “Will is a world-class hitmaker and the ideal producer to capture the prestige of ‘The Oscars’ and deliver a powerful and moving event.”

The Oscars have also been working on diversity and inclusion since the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite trended in 2015.

“The power, the beauty, the romance of the imagery in movies has always attracted me,“ Packer said. ”I’m fully embracing the challenge of bringing an ode to one of the most iconic mediums in the world to life. What an honor!” 

Packer’s television shows include That Girl Lay Lay, Being Mary Jane, Uncle Buck and the remake of Roots. He produced and executive produced such films as The Photograph, What Men Want, Girls Trip, Straight Outta Compton, Ride Along, Think Like a Man, Obsessed and Stomp the Yard.

Shayla Cowan, chief of staff of Will Packer Productions and Will Packer Media, will serve as co-producer alongside Packer. 

The 94th Oscars will be held March 27 at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. ABC will broadcast the event, which will be televised in more than 200 territories worldwide.

This year’s Oscars were produced by television producer Jesse Collins, film producer Stacey Sher and director Steven Soderbergh.

Declining broadcast TV ratings and the polarizing impact of the Cancel Culture movement have certainly hurt Hollywood’s Awards Show Industrial Complex of late. 

But new research from Reelgood suggests that the decreasingly popular Academy Awards and the embattled Golden Globes still give their respective top contenders a significant audience boost when it comes to next-day streaming. 

Reelgood, which directs users to the various streaming platforms to find the shows and movies they’re searching for, found that Nomadland received nearly a 3X audience boost on Hulu immediately after the evening of Feb. 28, when the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) named the film the winner of its Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Drama, while also awarding the film's creative mastermind, Chloé Zhao, Golden Globes for best directing and screenwriting. 

Nomadland received a much bigger audience boost right after April 25, when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences awarded the movie the Oscar for Best Picture, while also recognizing Zhao and star Frances McDormand. This time, the audience, across Hulu and transactional services, increased by a factor of more than 4X (see chart below).

Reelgood found similarly corresponding audience increases for Netflix awards contenders Mank and The Trial of the Chicago 7, tied to the not just to the actual Golden Globes and Oscar presentations, but also the Oscar nominations. 

TV shows also get a boost from awards, Reelgood said. Apple TV Plus hit Ted Lasso, which won Golden Globes for Best TV Series - Comedy or Musical, as well as a Best Actor in a TV Series Golden Globe for star Jason Sudeikis, received a 2.1X day-after-ceremony audience bump. 

The data, which Reelgood said is based over 2 million user streams, comes as Hollywood’s annual awards rituals are under increasing existential threat. 

ABC’s presentation of the 93rd Annual Academy Awards last month were watched by just 9.85 million viewers, while garnering an anemic 1.9 rating among adults 18-49, an all-time low for an event that generated Super Bowl-liked TV audience numbers not too long ago. 

Meanwhile, the HFPA—an organization with obvious flaws that were overlooked by entertainment industry for decades—has come under heightened criticism, not only for an alleged lack of organizational diversity, but also for the behavior of some of its members. 

NBC, which has long televised the Golden Globes event, said it won’t present the awards telecast next year. 

B&C has partnered with always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company iSpot.tv to bring you a weekly chart we call Promo Mojo: exclusive data showing the top five TV promos ranked by ad impressions. Our data covers the 7-day period through April 25.

On the strength of 400 million TV ad impressions, ABC’s promo for the 2021 Oscars tops our chart. (All those impressions, though, failed to motivate a sufficient number of viewers to tune in, and ratings for the telecast hit a historic low.)

Cable networks round out the ranking, with Discovery trying to hook viewers on the new season of Deadliest Catch in second place, Freeform hyping new teen drama/thriller Cruel Summer in third, HGTV building excitement for new show No Demo Reno in fourth, and Food Network giving some love to Worst Cooks in America in fifth.

Notably, the Deadliest Catch spot has the highest iSpot Attention Index (112) in this week’s ranking, meaning viewers were on average highly likely to watch it all the way through (vs. interrupting it by changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fast-forwarding or turning off the TV).

1) 2021 Oscars, ABC

Impressions: 400,128,374

Interruption Rate: 1.61%

Attention Index: 101 (1% fewer interruptions than avg.)

Imp. Types: National 86%, Local 13%, VOD/OTT 1%

In-network Value: $2,108,978

Out-of-network Est. Spend: $930,466

2) Deadliest Catch, Discovery

Impressions: 172,551,220

Interruption Rate: 1.50%

Attention Index: 112 (12% fewer interruptions than avg.)

Imp. Types: National 97%, Local 2%, VOD/OTT 1%

In-network Value: $772,320

Out-of-network Est. Spend: $22,913

3) Cruel Summer, Freeform

Impressions: 166,655,649

Interruption Rate: 1.87%

Attention Index: 103 (3% fewer interruptions than avg.)

Imp. Types: National 90%, Local 8%, VOD/OTT 2%

In-network Value: $651,703

Out-of-network Est. Spend: $212,983

4) No Demo Reno, HGTV

Impressions: 165,369,176

Interruption Rate: 1.69%

Attention Index: 104 (4% fewer interruptions than avg.)

Imp. Types: National 98%, Local 1%, VOD/OTT 1%

In-network Value: $779,726

Out-of-network Est. Spend: $0.00

5) Worst Cooks in America, Food Network

Impressions: 158,411,932

Interruption Rate: 1.15%

Attention Index: 110 (10% fewer interruptions than avg.)

Imp. Types: National 98%, Local 1%, VOD/OTT 1%

In-network Value: $619,733

Out-of-network Est. Spend: $0.00

*Data provided by iSpot.tv, TV Ad Measurement for Disruptive Brands*

Impressions - The total impressions within all US households including National Linear (Live & Time-shifted), VOD+OTT, and Local.

Attention Score - Measures the propensity of consumers to interrupt an ad play on TV. The higher the score, the more complete views. Actions that interrupt an ad play include changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fast-forwarding or turning off the TV.

Attention Index - Represents the Attention of a specific creative or program placement vs. the average in its respective industry. The average is represented by a score of 100, and the total index range is from 0 through 200. For example, an attention index of 125 means that there are 25% fewer interrupted ad plays compared to the average.

Imp. Types - Impression types tracked include National (Live + Time-shifted), Local, VOD & OTT. See below for further details.

In-network Value - Estimated media value of in-network promos.

Out-of-network Spend - The estimated amount spent on TV airing time for this promo's spots during a given date range.

National: Live - A national promo which was viewed during live linear television broadcast or same day, via DVR or on-demand.

Local - A promo that was aired during a local ad break slot.

VOD - This includes promos that run in on-demand content past three days (i.e. do not contain the linear promo load)

OTT - On-demand streaming content (i.e. Hulu, Roku, Fire TV Stick, Chromecast).

In a year that saw traditional TV ratings plunge for once-reliable audience grabbers like the Super Bowl and the Oscars, advertisers and programmers are looking for technologies and methods that drive engagement, Verizon Communications’ chief media officer John Nitti said at the B+C/Multichannel News virtual Advanced Advertising Summit Tuesday. 

“What we're looking for is, how do you maintain mindshare, maintain the ability to connect with prospects and customers, but measure that right,” Nitti told conference moderator, B+C/Multichannel News business editor Jon Lafayette. “Measurement is the key aspect in all this, because clearly things are changing. ... It's not just about blasting out impressions. It's about the conversion and the engagement that you're getting with the customer.”

Also Read: Spring TV Events Offer a Look at Future of Television 

Technology, like 5G, also plays an important role in driving engagement. Nitti pointed to The Super Bowl and The Oscars, each which featured innovative camera angles and information that are in part geared to keep viewers focused.  

During the last Super Bowl, for example, Verizon’s stadium app offered unique camera angles during the game. At big non-sporting events the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Verizon provided 360-degree camera angles that put viewers in the middle of the action.  

“To make it be like you could be there [at the parade] was the only way that you could be there, the ultimate demonstration of what we can bring to life and how you change those experiences,” Nitti said. “Then you fast-forward most recently to this weekend, and the Oscars. Last year we did a 5G portal from Times Square to the red carpet that was in LA. This year we brought that 5G portal to life for any viewer that wanted to get on the red carpet while the celebrities [were] coming in, [to] get behind the stage after they received an award and watch their trophy be engraved or being in the press room.”

That helps drive mindshare and time spent with programming, he continued, adding that in some cases, viewers spent as long as nine minutes in some of those portals. 

“And when you're conveying a complex message ... the more mindshare you have with the customer, the more engagement you have, the better,” Nitti said.

Also Read: Verizon Agrees To Spend More With Black-Owned Media

The pandemic, changes in viewing habits and how programming and advertising is delivered all played havoc with the upfronts last year. Nitti isn’t expecting any dramatic swings back to the old ways of doing business. 

“You'll continue to see the merger of the upfront and new fronts into one time frame,” Nitti said. “If money is going to move, money is going to move. Marketers have become more and more comfortable with digital streaming platforms, whether that be YouTube Hulu, Disney Plus, etc., as platforms of choice. So you're going to look at your video budgets holistically, then you should look at them holistically to see where the opportunity is.”

Nitti said that last year the uncertain situation with the pandemic forced advertisers and programmers to be more flexible, that ability to make last minute changes to budgets and move dollars around inventory is still needed.

“I think flexibility last year was driven by uncertainty,  marketers being uncertain, where things were going, when they were going to be able to open stores, if they were going to be able to open stores, etc.,” Nitti said. “Why should you not be able to make optimizations and change? It's like we're all driving business and ultimately, if I'm a seller if I can prove that I'm driving business outcomes, my budget increases. As a retailer at heart, we need to be looking at our numbers daily, we need to drive those optimizations and have flexibility.”

The Oscars averaged 9.85 million total viewers on ABC Sunday, April 25, a 58% plunge from last year’s telecast, which had represented a record low. The 93rd Academy Awards posted a 1.9 rating in viewers 18-49, a 64% decline from the previous year. 

Last year’s event, in February, drew 23.6 million total viewers, and earned a 5.3 rating in viewers 18-49. In 2019, the Oscars had nearly 30 million total viewers and scored a 7.7 in the key demo. 

Jesse Collins, Stacey Sher and Steven Soderbergh produced the 2021 Oscars, which happened at Union Station Los Angeles and the Dolby Theatre. Presenters included Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, Bong Joon Ho, Don Cheadle, Bryan Cranston, Harrison Ford, Regina King and Brad Pitt.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hosts the Oscars. 

Best Picture was between Judas and the Black Messiah, Mank, Minari, Nomadland, Promising Young Woman, Sound of Metal, The Father and The Trial of the Chicago 7. Nomadland won. 

Disney Advertising Sales announced last week that commercials for the 2021 Oscars were sold out. 

Several streaming services could experience a nice Oscars-related bump in streams and subscribers sign ups -- to go along with an increase in industry prestige -- given the platform's strong performance during last night's Academy Awards ceremony.

The biggest winner during ABC's live Oscars broadcast Sunday was Netflix, who took home an industry leading seven Academy Award statuettes for five different projects, including two for its drama films Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Mank. 

While Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom star Chadwick Boseman did not posthumously take home the best actor award as he did within the category at the Critics Choice, Golden Globes, and Screen Actors Guild awards -- he was upset by 83-year old Anthony Hopkins’ performance in The Father --  the film did win best makeup and hairstyling as well as best costume design. The film, produced by Denzel Washington, stars Academy Award nominated Viola Davis in the role of 1920’s blues singer Ma Rainey and follows the exploits of a 1927 recording session in Chicago. 

Oscars 2021: Photos From the 93rd Academy Awards

Netflix’s Mank, which chronicles the making of the 1941 Citizen Kane film, also took home two statuettes for production design and best cinematography. Netflix’s documentary My Octopus Teacher won for best documentary feature, while short films Two Distant Strangers and If Anything Happens I Love You won for the best live action and best animated short categories respectively. 

Netflix's Oscars showing is good news for the streamer, which last week reported an anemic, pandemic-addled first quarter performance in which it tallied a lower than expected 4 million new subscribers.

Also Read: Netflix adds Just 4 Million New Subscribers in 1st Quarter

Other services like Hulu should benefit from having the streaming rights to this year’s best picture, Nomadland. The movie, which premiered on Hulu in February, also won the best actress award for star Frances McDormand and best director for Chloe Zhao. Zhao becomes the first woman of color to win the award, and only the second woman behind The Hurt Locker’s Kathryn Bigelow.

Amazon Prime is currently the home for two-time Academy Award winning film the Sound of Metal, which won the Oscar for best sound and best film editing. The movie, which follows Oscar-nominated star Riz Ahmed as a rock band drummer who begins to lose his hearing, was also nominated for best picture.

Disney, which finished second to Netflix with five Oscars wins, should generate increased interest for its Disney Plus streaming service through its owned studio Pixar’s animated film Soul. The movie, which stars Jamie Foxx as a black musician whose soul hovers between Earth and the afterlife, won Oscars for best animated film and best score. Disney Plus debuted Soul this past Christmas and it currently streams on the service. 

Also Read: Disney Plus' 'Soul' Ranked No. 1 for Christmas Week Streaming, Nielsen Says

Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney stormed this year's Academy Awards with a slate of prestigious, well-reviewed films that had already secured the streaming platform's position among the most successful and prolific producers and distributors of Hollywood films before the first envelope was opened during last night’s ceremony. Now, with a truckload of Oscars and streaming rights to many of last night's biggest winners in tow, streamers are sitting pretty among the major power brokers in the film world.

Take a look at photos from the 2021 Oscars, which aired live on ABC Sunday, April 25 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT from Los Angeles's Union Station and the Dolby Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Center.

Also Read: For Netflix and Amazon, Long Road to Oscar Dominance Could Culminate Sunday

Riz Ahmed and Viola Davis have been added to the list of Oscars presenters when the annual movie awards happen on ABC April 25. Other presenters include Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, Bong Joon Ho, Don Cheadle, Bryan Cranston, Laura Dern, Harrison Ford, Regina King, Joaquin Phoenix, Brad Pitt, Reese Witherspoon, Zendaya and Renee Zellweger. 

Ahmed is up for best actor for his work in Sound of Metal. Davis is up for best actress in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. 

Jesse Collins, Stacey Sher and Steven Soderbergh are producing the 93rd Oscars, which happen at Union Station Los Angeles and the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, along with international locations via satellite. The producers have described an “awards-show-as-a-movie approach” to the telecast. 

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hosts the Oscars. 

The commercial lineup is sold out, according to ABC, with the average 30-second spot costing $2.15 million. 

The Academy Award for best picture is between Judas and the Black Messiah, Mank, Minari, Nomadland, Promising Young Woman, Sound of Metal, The Father and The Trial of the Chicago 7.  

Commercials for the 93d annual Oscars telecast on Sunday are sold out, according to Disney Advertising Sales.

Behind the Super Bowl, the Oscars have historically one of the highest profile programs on TV and among the most attractive for advertisers.

According to Kantar, last year’s Academy Awards show drew $129 million in ad revenue, up from $114 million in 2019.  The Red Carpet pre-show generated another $21 million in 2020, up front $2 million the previous year.

The average 30-second spot during the awards show cost $2.15 million, up 9%.

But broadcast TV in general has been losing audiences in general and award show ratings have been getting smaller and smaller, despite the appeal of live events.

Last year’s Oscars--which aired before the start of the pandemic--drew a record-low audience of 23.6 million viewers. The Golden Globes, which aired Feb. 28 saw ratings drop more than 60% to 6.9 million on NBC.

Jerry Daniello, senior VP, Entertainment Brand Solutions at Disney Ad Sales said that trend hasn’t affected the allure of the Oscars.

“The advertisers and the brands that have been showing up every year continue to show up to launch new creative and use the Oscar platform for the reach and for the prestige and to be in that environment,” Daniello said. 

“A  lot of new brands have shown up in the Oscars for the first time and they're coming to the table with plenty of original creative that will launch on Sunday that's timely and relevant and inclusive. The rating projections are not necessarily affecting how clients are buying the Oscars, he added.

Audiences may have lost some interest in Hollywood during a year in which most people streamed even new films at home.

After a year in which theaters were largely empty, Disney has come up with a new format to promote new theatrical releases. 

In this year’s Oscars three celebrities from upcoming films will talk about their favorite movie theater experience and introduce their new film, which will lead into an exclusive, never before seen trailer. In past years, a separation was required between someone appearing in the broadcast and appearing in a commercial.

The three people featured are  Ariana DeBose, who plays Anita in the new version of West Side Story, drummer Questlove, who directed the upcoming documentary Summer of Soul, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, who will appear in the movie version of his play In the Heights.

This year’s Oscar broadcast is three months later than last years, and Daniello said the extra time enabled Disney to secure these moments in the production.

Daniello said some of this year’s Oscar advertisers, like Target, which came in at the last minute, have done well during the pandemic. Others, like Expedia, are hoping to use the Oscars to get back to business as usual.

Sponsors of this year’s Oscars include Google, General Motors, Rolex and Verizon in the “proud” category.

Google is sponsoring audio descriptions of the telecast for the visually impaired for the first time. Closed captioning will be provided by VITAC, and the audio description will be provided by VITAC and Audio Eyes.

“Google is committed to making the world a more accessible place by working to ensure disabled people are represented in the stories we tell and the products we build,” says KR Liu, head of brand accessibility. “We are excited to do our part in making this year’s Oscars accessible for everyone by helping to make audio descriptions and captions available for viewers.”

During the show, Google will also run an ad that features the story of Google employee Tony Lee, a child of deaf parents, also called a CODA. The spot explores how his family communicates today with the help of Google products including Live Transcribe, Captions in Google Meet & Live Caption on Android and Chrome.

GM’s Cadillac is introducing its first electric crossover vehicle, the Lyric.

AARP; Accenture; Adidas International; Airbnb; Apartments.com; Apple; Corona; Disney Plus; Eli Lilly; Expedia; FreshPet; FX; Grey Goose (Bacardi); GSK; Honda; Kellogg; Keurig (Dr. Pepper Zero Sugar); Mars; P&G; Panera; Power to the Patient; Searchlight;  Starbucks, Subway; Walt Disney Studios and Warner Brothers as participating sponsors.

Disney also has local sponsors for the Oscars, including Mercedes-Benz, Resorts World, Spectrum and Virgin Hotels.

ABC has revealed the presenters at the 93rd Oscars, which airs live on ABC Sunday, April 25. Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, Bong Joon Ho, Don Cheadle, Bryan Cranston, Laura Dern, Harrison Ford, Regina King, Marlee Matlin, Rita Moreno, Joaquin Phoenix, Brad Pitt, Reese Witherspoon, Renée Zellweger and Zendaya will present Academy Awards.

Jesse Collins, Stacey Sher and Steven Soderbergh are producing the event. “In keeping with our awards-show-as-a-movie approach, we’ve assembled a truly stellar cast of stars,” said the trio. “There’s so much wattage here, sunglasses may be required.”

Additional talent will be announced later. 

Best Picture is between Judas and the Black Messiah, Mank, Minari, Nomadland, Promising Young Woman, Sound of Metal, The Father and The Trial of the Chicago 7. 

The 93rd Oscars will be held at Union Station Los Angeles and the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, and international locations via satellite. The event starts at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET. 

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hosts the Oscars. Glenn Weiss directs. 

Glenn Weiss will return as director of this year’s 93rd Oscars broadcast.

Wiess has directed five previous Oscar Shows, in addition to other live televised events.

“Our plan is that this year’s telecast will look like a movie not a television show, and Glenn has embraced this approach and come up with ideas of his own on how to achieve this. We’re thrilled to have him as part of the brain trust,” said Jese Collins, Stacy Sher and Steven Soderbergh, the producers of the show for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which which will be broadcast on ABC in the U.S. and around the world on April 25.

The event will be held in Union Stations in Los Angeles and the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center.

Nominations were announced on March 15.

Netflix earned 35 Academy Award nominations on Monday, more than any other media company this year, up by 11 nods year over year.

David Fincher’s Mank earned Netflix 10 nominations, including one in the best picture category. Also included in the best picture category are Netflix films The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods earned one nomination for best score.

Netflix’s Oscar nomination domination isn’t a surprise. The pandemic forced movie theaters around the country to close for the majority of 2020. In April 2020, the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences made a one-time-only concession, permitting films scheduled to be released in theaters to still be eligible if they debuted on streaming services. Previously, movies needed to have a minimum week-long theatrical run in order to qualify for consideration.

In the most influential Oscar campaign yet for video streaming, Amazon walked away with 12 nominations combined for Sound of Metal, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm and One Night in Miami.

Searchlight Picture’s Nomadland garnered six nominations, including one for director Chloé Zhao, the first time a woman of Asian descent received a nod in the category. In all likelihood the majority of people who have seen the critical hit watched it on Hulu, where the film is currently streaming. 

Andra Day, star of Hulu’s The United States Vs. Billie Holiday, received a best actress nod. 

Warner Bros’ Judas and the Black Messiah, which debuted day and date on HBO Max, garnered six nods. The historical drama debuted in theaters and on HBO Max in February along with the rest of the Warner Bros. slate. 

And Disney Plus received nominations for Onward, Mulan, Soul and The One and Only Ivan.

And Apple garnered its first nominations--one for best animated feature, Wolfwalkers, and another best sound nomination for Greyhound.

For the last several years, Netflix has tried to make inroads with the Academy, especially in the coveted Best Picture category. The streaming service spends considerable funds on limited theatrical releases for all the films they have qualified over the years. In 2019 the service put The Irishman in theaters for 26 days before placing it on television during the Thanksgiving weekend.  But the Academy’s suspension of its rule requiring theatrical releases, put to bed -- at least this year -- the debate over films made for television versus true theatrical films.

Back in April, Academy president David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson said in a statement that organization was “unchanged and unwavering” about their commitment to the theatrical experience.

A bold statement given the fact that streamer services and their subscribers are increasing by the day. To say that films released on streaming services aren’t theatrical film seems a bit silly at this point. 

Three years ago Steven Spielberg caused a ruckus when he questioned the validity of films released on streaming services, “Once you commit to a television format, you’re a TV movie,” Spielberg said in a 2018 interview with ITV News. “I don’t believe that films that are given token qualifications, in a couple of theaters for less than a week, should qualify for the Academy Award nomination.”

But after 2020, when all of the nominated films were predominantly watched on TV screens it seems clear that the Academy will have to adjust to the changing times.

The 93rd Academy Awards air Sunday, April 25, on ABC.

In a few short days, the 2020 Oscar season will blessedly come to a close with the awarding of, yes, the Academy Awards, concluding a pummeling gauntlet of lesser awards shows, events, receptions and screenings that kicked into gear way back around Labor Day. 

But for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and the rest of the streaming services that have weaponized the awards process for their own marketing purposes, there’s not much rest ahead, no matter how draining the past few months have been. 

Where once the film business heaved a collective sigh and headed to Palm Springs or Jackson Hole for a little post-Oscars R&R, there’s no such break in streaming land.

Unlike the traditional Hollywood studios, where film was film and TV was TV, and each division largely had their own awards season, the major streaming services care little about old-school media operating units. 

What they do care about is getting as much awards recognition as they can. Those awards, and the endless conversations about awards contenders leading up to the ceremonies, convey a sense of quality programming to subscribers who must pay up each month.

It’s a strategy that has been hugely profitable for pay-TV king HBO the past quarter century, as it racked up dozens of Emmys and billions of dollars in subscriber fees. Whether the same approach will work for the revamped HBO Max, set to launch in April with a remit to pump out far more programming, will play out over the next couple of seasons. 

In the meantime, plenty of others are already in the awards game. 

It’s been particularly important for Netflix, otherwise vulnerable to being dissed for huge amounts of not very remarkable shows. Salting in a few award winners amid the monthly flood communicates quality. 

This season, according to a New York Times story from earlier this week, Netflix has spent at least $70 million to secure its 24 Oscar nominations. 

Netflix first hit awards pay dirt with 2013’s House of Cards. The political thriller featured David Fincher as executive producer (he won an Emmy for directing) and starred Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright (who won Golden Globes and were nominated for multiple Emmys).

Netflix’s other prestige hit of the era, Orange is the New Black, lasted longer and didn’t win nearly as often, but was a consistent contender throughout a 91-episode run. 

Pulling in Emmys and Golden Globes was a good first step. But beginning in 2018, Netflix escalated its awards regime, setting its sights on the Oscars. 

Netflix first hired renowned Hollywood awards promoter Lisa Taback, along with her entire organization. Taback had consulted for such Oscar winners as La La Land and Spotlight. 

At the same time, Netflix acquired a handful of serious contenders (Roma by Alfonso Cuaron, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs by the Coen Bros., and Bird Box, directed by Susanne Bier and starring Sandra Bullock). 

And then Netflix did a remarkable thing. It put those movies into theaters before showing them to its customers. That approach qualified the films for Oscar consideration and moderately appeased film purists and auteur directors alike. 

Even though the theatrical runs were short and limited to a few dozen screens, they tapped into the publicity and media engine surrounding every week’s film releases, and the even bigger engine around Oscar contenders. Netflix also backed its contenders with serious cash. 

For Roma alone, Netflix spent $50 million or more, pushing an unprecedented Best Picture win for a foreign-language film. Roma fell short but still won the foreign-language Oscar, and Cuaron won for directing and cinematography. Not bad for a black-and-white period piece in Spanish and Mixtec, featuring a first-time actress. 

Netflix also won Oscars for Buster Scruggs and a documentary short, while horror film Bird Box became one of the service’s most watched features. 

This year, Netflix went even wider, giving 10 films limited theatrical releases. Among those getting the treatment were two eventual Best Picture nominees, a documentary feature nominee and an animated feature contender among 24 nominations. 

After Netflix’s big push in the 2019 season, Amazon Prime Studios created its own in-house awards team, headed by Debra Birnbaum, a former Variety and TV Guide editor. 

Amazon’s awards team was put together far too late to make a significant impact last Oscar season, especially while Prime Studios underwent a major strategy shift under new studio head Jennifer Salke.

But it likely paid off during the 2019 Emmys, when Fleabag won Outstanding Comedy Series and five other statues, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel picked up another eight awards on top of the eight it won the previous year. 

Birnbaum had less to work with this Oscar season, after Amazon’s handful of feature acquisitions largely underperformed at the box office and never took off as contenders. But don’t expect the situation to stay that way. 

If the buying frenzy at the just-wrapped Sundance Film Festival is any guide, this year’s Emmy and Oscar seasons should be even more hard fought as new services push their projects. At the festival, most of the big services acquired multiple projects, for prices up to a record $17.5 million. 

Also read: Tubi Signs Sundance Deal For Robert Rodriguez's Next $7K Film

Documentaries such as Boy’s State were particularly hot, an example of both changing audience tastes in the streaming world and a growing understanding that Oscars look good on the corporate mantle regardless of category.  

At least some of those Sundance pickups likely will contend in 2021, especially as newcomers figure out their own awards strategy. Count on 2021 to be one of the most competitive, and endless, awards seasons ever. 

That should comfort you as you get ready for Emmy season, which kicks in right after South By Southwest.

As Hollywood prepares for Sunday’s Academy Awards, Fuse is shining a light on the underrepresentation of Hispanics among the major Oscar acting categories.

Fuse has teamed with the National Hispanic Media Coalition to bring more attention to the fact that none of the Oscar nominees for best actor or actress is Latino. Further, Latino actors and actresses have only garnered 16 nominations and six wins in 90 years, according to the Huffington Post.

The NHMC is planning to demonstrate the day before the Oscars to bring light to the disparity.

“We want to help them get the conversation going – they are the watchdog of Latinos in media, and they are there to elevate Latino voices on air and online, and that’s what we are here to do,” said Judi Lopez, Fuse senior vice president of distribution and affiliate marketing. “It’s important that we’re raising the issue and locking arms with them.”

Added NHMC president Alex Nogales: “We applaud Fuse for standing up for the Latino community by helping us drive awareness for this incredible inequity in representation. More media companies need to take notice and need to follow the example.”  

On Sunday, against the Oscars telecast, Fuse will air commercial-free the 2014 dramedy film Dear White People, which examines escalating racial tensions at a fictitious college. As part of that telecast, Fuse will also premiere several interstitials featuring footage from the 1950 classic film Cyrano de Bergerac, starring José Ferrer (pictured) -- the only Latino actor ever to win an Oscar for best actor. The remixed footage will use humor to call attention to the lack of Latino representation and provide thought-provoking facts on inclusion in entertainment, Fuse said.

“The interstitials are a play on what’s going on and how ludicrous the [Latino] representation – or lack thereof – is in the Oscar categories and in Hollywood,” Lopez said. 

Indeed, Latino actors and actresses represented only 3.1% of speaking roles in major Hollywood films from 2007 to 2016, Lopez said. With 56 million Hispanics in the U.S., the numbers are embarrassing.

The lack of Latino actors and actresses in prominent speaking roles may also be affecting Latino movie attendance. Lopez said Latinos represent 24% of movie ticket buyers today, down from 32% of movie ticket buyers just four years ago.

On the flip side, movies that have significant Latino representation and reflect the culture, such as Disney’s animated film Coco, can perform well at the box office. The Mexican folktale-themed film with a predominately Hispanic vocal cast has generated more than $208 million in domestic box office sales since its November 2017 release, according to Box Office Mojo.

“At 18% of the population, Latinos are still over-indexing on buying movie tickets, but you have to ask the question as to why those movie ticket buying numbers are down,” Lopez said. “Maybe its because they’re not seeing themselves represented in the movies, and representation and engagement is key. When you see yourself on television or in the movies, it resonates deeply.” 

Lopez said the network is in the planning stages of developing other initiatives that will continue to tackle the issues of inclusion and diversity beyond the Oscars both on its linear network and online. 

“This is going to have at least raised the issue during the moment in time we have here during the Oscars, and we’re going to keep on that mission,” she said. “I think there’s going to be a lot of visibility within the Latino community, and we’ll continue to look for opportunities to keep amplifying it.”

Strong Subscriber Growth Powers Netflix Q4

TWIN: Despite a sizeable price increase in the fourth quarter, domestic and international subscriber growth in the period outpaced analysts' expectations, with domestic customers up 1.98 million (vs. consensus estimates of 1.25 million) and international subscriber rolls up by 6.4 million (vs. expectations of 5 million).

MCN Take: Netflix's growth was in sharp contrast to traditional pay TV operators, like Verizon and Comcast, which saw their video customers dip in the fourth quarter.

See the full story atMCN.

Blige Receives Oscar Nom for Mudbound

TWIN: Netflix was clotheslined in its attempt to get a best picture nomination for its theatrical motion picture Mudbound, but it did manage to secure a nod for "Best Supporting Actress" for Mary J. Blige and three other nominations – Best Song (Mighty River); Adapted Screenplay and Cinematography. Two of its documentaries – Icarus and Strong Island – are vying for Best Documentary Feature. 

MCN Take: Blige has been widely praised for her performance in the movie, but Netflix has seen the Academy snub its theatrical releases in the past – the governing body has suggested that despite brief runs in theatres, the streaming video offerings are more suited for the Emmy Awards.

"It’s a glorious day for breaking boundaries." #Mudbound made history this year in each of its Academy Awards nominations. pic.twitter.com/NojSzCnlv9

— Mudbound (@mudboundmovie) January 29, 2018

See the full story at NPR.

Netflix Market Value Tops $100B

TWIN: Riding high after strong Q4 earnings, Netflix stock surged Tuesday, Jan. 23 to $257.71 per share, up 13.2% ($30.13 each) and blowing past $100 billion in market cap for the first time. The stock has continued to climb since breaking the $100 billion barrier – it closed at $274.60 on Jan. 26.

MCN Take: A healthy market cap usually points to good news for debt holders – a company's equity value usually has to evaporate entirely before its debt is affected – and having a $100 billion safety net doesn't hurt. That wasn't lost on Netflix execs, who plan to continue to tap the high-yield markets to fund growth, adding in their letter to shareholders, "High yield has rarely seen an equity cushion so thick." 

See the full story at WSJ.

Altice Integrates Netflix App in Altice One Set-Tops

TWIN: Altice One was launched in November and is modeled after the La Box product its European parent has offered in France. Altice USA and its predecessor Cablevision Systems has been a pioneer in offering set-top connectivity to SVOD services like Netflix and Hulu.

MCN Take: Altice One seems to be taking the guesswork out of a Netflix subscription– current customers of both services will be prompted to sign in when accessing Netflix on the platform for the first time. Altice One customers without a Netflix membership will be able to sign up for Netflix service directly through Altice One and the operator also is preparing to introduce a remote that features a Netflix button. 

See the full story at MCN.

Analyst Says Netflix Peak Still Years Away

TWIN: MKM Partners analyst Rob Sanderson raised his 12-month price target on Netflix to $320 from $245 on Monday, adding that the SVOD pioneer still has a long runway of growth ahead.

"While there is certainly a bullish sentiment surrounding the stock, we think that many investors still underestimate the Netflix story particularly with respect to the penetration opportunity around the world," Sanderson wrote. "We think that continued subscriber momentum, both domestic and international will lead to a rethinking of earnings power."

MCN Take: Netflix shares are up nearly 93% in the past 12 months, compared to 25% for the S&P 500 and 32% for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Netflix beat analysts' Q4 consensus subscriber growth estimates handily, suggesting that recent price increases are having little or no effect.

See the full story at Market Watch.

As the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nervously awaits the reaction to Sunday’s Academy Awards show amid the simmering controversy over the lack of diversity in the Oscar nominations, the television community is slowly moving toward recognizing the quality and value of diverse content.

Television networks are increasingly embracing diversity through the greenlighting and launching of numerous quality comedies, dramas, mini-series and movies featuring people of color in leading roles. It’s no secret that African-American and Hispanic viewers by far watch more hours of television than any group, so providing content that reflects the makeup of the TV audience, like ABC’s Black-ish and Fresh Off the Boat, Starz’s Power and Hulu’s East Los High, is smart business.

Those quality performances have begun to get their well-deserved due during award season thus far in 2016.

Actors of diverse backgrounds were recognized by the Hollywood Foreign Press during the annual Golden Globe awards. Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal won for best comedy performance for his starring role in Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle, while veteran actress Taraji Henson took home best actress in a TV drama series for her portrayal of sassy Cookie Lyon on Fox’s hit series Empire.

Diversity was the big winner at last month’s Screen Actors Guild Awards as shows with multicultural casts (Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black) as well as individual actors of color (Idris Elba, who won two SAG awards, Queen Latifah, Viola Davis, Uzo Aduba) who won in several major categories.

That’s not to say that all is well on the diversity front on the small screen.

Only 26% of series regulars on broadcast, cable and streaming services were from “underrepresented” racial ethnic groups, according to the recently released USC Annenberg Comprehensive Report on Diversity in Entertainment.

Further, 90% of all directors of the premiere episodes for every live-action broadcast television show was white, while streaming and cable shows came in at 88% and 83%, respectively, according to the report.

What the #OscarsSoWhite controversy and television’s improving-yet-not-great diversity record shows is that there's a lot of room for improvement and a need to continue the dialogue on the issue of diversity in entertainment.

As millions of movie-lovers prepare to fill out their ballots ahead of Sunday night’s Academy Awards, Irdeto checked in with some fresh data showing that piracy picked up sizably after the films nominated were announced. 

Irdeto, the content protection specialist, monitors such things, and found a 385% increase in piracy worldwide for nominated films when the announcement was made in mid-January. Irdeto said it figured that out by tracking illegal download data from those titles across the U.S. and more than 200 countries using the company’s automated crawlers, which use special software to identify users and files on the BitTorrent network.

While Gone Girl held an early lead, American Sniper surpassed it, with more than 1.38 million downloads during the period tracked -- January 15 through February 14. The report is available here.

Irdeto said about 36% of pirate copies came from retail Blu-ray and DVD discs during that period, while 31% came way of Hollywood screeners.

On that note, Irdeto said the six nominated movies (American Sniper, The Imitation Game, Wild, Selma, Whiplash and Still Alice) not available yet for retail purchase on Blu-Ray, DVD, VOD or legal streaming/download sites saw the highest levels of piracy from screeners. It further estimates that more than $40 million in retail revenue could have been captured if those titles were already available to consumers.

Irdeto cares about this in large part because it provides the kind of security that could support earlier digital distribution windows, something it’s in favor of and believes Hollywood should be as well.

“In the world of internet re-distribution, the window between theatrical release and worldwide market availability may simply be too long, leaving room for pirates to take advantage and offer consumers alternative means of instant gratification,” Rory O’Connor,Irdeto’s VP of services, said in a statement about the company’s findings. “Today’s consumers simply refuse to wait to access these movies through legitimate services.”

During the timeframe monitored by Irdeto, the U.S. led the way in illegal downloads, followed by Russia, Italy, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Canada, India, Australia, Spain, South Korea and the Netherlands.

This heat map (partly shown above and available in full here) offers a more granular view, breaking down by the top three Oscar-nominated movies downloaded on a country-by-country basis. 

And the Oscar for programmatic buying goes to ad agency DigitasLBi, which for the first time used software to purchase ads in the Academy Awards broadcast.

Acting on behalf of a client that asked not to be identified publicly, DigitasLBi bought local TV spots in nine markets through the programmatic partnership between media software companies TubeMogul and WideOrbit.

The Oscar buy follows a Super Bowl ad bought programmatically by Mondelez for its Oreos and Ritz brands in the Erie, Pa., market, and illustrates that programmatic buying is steadily spreading from the digital realm to the TV universe.

Programmatic buying automates the sales process and uses big data to identify advertising inventory that closely matches a marketer’s target audience.

“We wanted to really get in the marketplace with programmatic television,” says Scott Marsden, senior VP media at DigitasLBi. “Obviously we know that there is going to be more and more availability of inventory there and we want to develop the expertise as quickly and possible.”

Read more at B&C. 

Pop is partnering with Entertainment Tonight for live red carpet shows preceding the Grammys and the Oscars.

Hosted by ET's Nancy O’Dell and Kevin Frazier, the live red carpet shows will air on Pop, previously TVGN, and provide viewers with a first look at the celebrity arrivals, fashions and antics.

ET at the Grammys Live on Pop will air Sunday, Feb. 8 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. (ET/PT), while ET at the Oscars Live on Pop is scheduled for Feb. 22 from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. (ET) and 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. (PT).

Viewers can engage in the red carpet festivities by posting questions to their favorite celebrities via social media; select questions from viewers will be asked during Pop’s live shows.

“The Grammy Awards and the Oscars are the two must-see award shows of the year, and the red carpets that precede them are appointment viewing for pop culture fans,” said Paul Adler, senior vice president of programming at Pop. “We are thrilled to partner with Entertainment Tonight– one of the premiere entertainment programs in the world – to produce these marquee live events.”

Pop is also celebrating the award season in the 6 p.m. half hour weekdays on PopSugar Now, its daily entertainment news show, with a themed "Grammy Awards Preview Week" and post show, along with a themed "Oscars Preview Week" and post show covering the celebrities, the festivities and the headlines of both award shows.