The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is reportedly considering whether to move the Oscars to a streaming service.
According to Vanity Fair, there is a “growing sense of broadcast obsolescence” which has led some at the Academy to begin talking about moving the ceremony from ABC to a streamer.
The magazine quotes an unnamed board member as saying “Here is the problem, as evidenced in the ratings for the Emmys. TV is going nowhere. So why don’t we just get our money [from a streaming deal], not worry about ratings, and call it a day?”
Last week’s Emmy Awards saw its ratings fall to an all-time low.
ABC currently holds the rights to broadcast the Oscars until 2028 and Academy governor Sid Ganis is quoted as saying they are “not even thinking about beyond that.”
The move to a streamer would “spell defeat” one Academy member told Vanity Fair of the show moving to a streaming service. “That would show we’ve given up on relevancy.”
The board member disagreed. “Look, we all have a great nostalgia for what the Oscars were,” the governor said. “Modernising it is really hard. We’re a room of middle-aged to older people who have been doing something a certain way for a long time. That doesn’t mean we should keep on doing it.”
