Several of the 23 categories which were presented on the air during last year’s 93rd Oscars telecast will not be presented on the air during the 94th Oscars telecast on March 27, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. The Academy could not be reached for comment.
In a move that is already causing tension within the leadership of the Academy, the presentations of these awards will take place off the air — revisiting a controversial approach that was first tried and then abandoned in 2018. THR is still working to confirm the exact process that will be used instead, but pre-show and commercial-break presentations, which occur at the Tony Awards, seem a likely model, with clips of those results edited and aired later in the broadcast. The exact categories that will be cut from the telecast are not yet known.
The move comes less than a year after the lowest-rated Oscars telecast ever provoked considerable consternation within the ranks of the Academy’s longtime broadcasting partner ABC, which owns the exclusive rights to air the ceremony through 2028, and the fees from which largely finance the operations of the Academy.
Most of the general public cares about only the six highest-profile Oscar categories — best picture, best director, best actor, best actress, best supporting actor and best supporting actress — if that. But the Academy has always felt pressure to present all of its competitive Oscars on the air in order to keep the peace within its own board of governors, which includes representatives of the Academy’s 17 branches, most of which have at least one award which honors people from the profession practiced by its members and wants them to be treated the same as actors, directors and producers.
The Academy announced in August 2018 that several awards would be presented off the air at the 91st Oscars, but a large industry backlash caused the organization to walk back the move.
Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes are set to host the 94th Oscars ceremony.
More to come.
Source: Hollywood
