Oscars: ABC Renews Contract Through 2028

Walt Disney's ABC will keep the broadcast rights for the Academy Awards until 2028, the network and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced on Wednesday.

The previous contract was set to expire in 2020. Financial details weren't disclosed.

"We’re honored to continue our storied and successful partnership with ABC in broadcasting the most watched live entertainment event of the year," said Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs. "In 2028, we’ll mark the Oscars 100th anniversary, and ABC is the perfect partner to help us celebrate the magic of movies with our fans."

She added: "On behalf of the Academy, I thank Jim Gianopulos, our Academy treasurer and chair of the board’s finance committee, and Disney/ABC’s Ben Sherwood, for leading these efforts.”

“After hosting the Academy Awards more than 50 times, ABC has become the home for Hollywood's most prestigious and glamorous night of television. With this new landmark agreement, ABC is proud to showcase the Oscars all the way to their centennial celebration in 2028,” said Ben Sherwood, co-chairman, Disney Media Networks and president, Disney/ABC Television Group.

“We are elated the Oscars will continue to call ABC home,” said Channing Dungey, president, ABC Entertainment. “The ceremony is an important part of network programming, and we’re looking forward to continuing our partnership with the Academy and delivering a multi-faceted, and multi-platform, ceremony celebrating the world’s biggest stars and honoring excellence in filmmaking.”

“The Academy's partnership with ABC has been one of the most enduring in Hollywood,” said Academy CEO Dawn Hudson. “Both the Academy and ABC set high bars for excellence, and ABC has a proven passion to help us deliver a great show to our global audience. We couldn’t think of a more trusted collaborator to further our mission of inspiring and connecting the world through film.”

The 89th Academy Awards will be held on Sunday Feb. 26, 2017.

Oscars: ABC's Renewed Contract Allows for More Creative Influence

Three small concessions, one giant leap.

ABC's new megadeal to broadcast the Oscars through 2028 includes gains in a trio of key areas — creative input, distribution and revenue streams — that are considered victories for the network, considering the Academy's ironclad grip on its biggest night of the year. The ceremony always has been challenging from a programming standpoint, in part because it must serve both industry insiders at the Dolby Theatre and civilians at home.

That's why it's significant that ABC now will have more input on the choice of producer and host, although the Academy retains final say. Sources close to the negotiations tell THR ABC plans to address the show's bloated length.

The 2016 telecast, hosted by Chris Rock and produced by Reginald Hudlin and David Hill, clocked in at 3 hours and 37 minutes and pulled in 34.4 million viewers, the least watched Oscars since the 2008 show hosted by Jon Stewart. Many other awards shows — notably the Grammys on CBS — have managed to strike a balance between entertainment and accolades, although the Academy always has been adamant that all 24 of its categories be presented on air.

Talks began about a year ago, when Academy CEO Dawn Hudson approached ABC about an extension. The new deal also provides for future ways viewers may consume content, much like the networks' NFL pacts do. NBC's recent coverage of the Rio Olympics offers a lesson in the migration of eyeballs to digital; the network had to offer make-goods to advertisers after TV viewership fell 9 percent.

To that end, ABC earned some latitude in product placement and integration, which will become a more significant source of revenue as technology allows viewers to bypass ads. Last year, 30-second spots on the Oscars went for about $2 million, bringing ABC's ad haul to more than $120 million (it was paying a $75 million annual license fee, which is said to remain about the same). In 2008, amid a soft ad market, the Academy voted to lift a 50-plus-year ban on studio spots.

Paid product placement — tastefully done, of course — may be the next frontier. As Disney/ABC Television Group president Ben Sherwood said, "We look forward to teaming with the Academy to bring Oscar Sunday to even greater creative heights."

2017 Oscar Producers Promise Short Ceremony: "In And Out. Nobody Gets Hurt. Just Fun"

Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd, who’ve just been named producers of the 89th Oscars, have never produced an Academy Awards show. But the two well-connected Hollywood producers did co-chair last January’s PGA Awards, so they’ve learned a few things about handing out trophies in front of a tense, black-tie Hollywood crowd.

Asked what lessons might transfer to the high-profile gig of the Oscar telecast — which ABC will broadcast on Feb. 26 — De Luca tells The Hollywood Reporter: “Get it done in as short amount of time as possible, have as many laughs as possible, have as much glamour and Hollywood style as possible, and let people have a good time. In and out. Nobody gets hurt. Just fun.”

The two, long-time friends and colleagues, say that after they produced the PGA ceremony, they got a hankering to do the Oscars and started putting out feelers. “We started talking about, ‘Wow, wouldn’t it be great and make our dream come true to do the Academy Awards.’ We were not shy in letting them know we were interested,” De Luca says. “Jennifer and I have been friends for 25 years and have talked about it for decades. We used to have viewing parties to watch the Oscars with a bunch of friends. Since we’re producers, we’d talk about what we would do. So it’s been in our heads for over 20 years, but we started our campaign to be considered after the PGA Awards.”

The two, however, aren’t ready to tip their hand about what direction the show is likely to take. “We’re in the early stages of coming up with themes, an overarching vision,” De Luca says. “Obviously, the show is meant to recognize excellence in each category and hand out awards, so whatever you do has to work around that. Right now, we’re kind of brainstorming.”

Todd adds to THR: “We’re still at a broad-strokes place — theme, inspiration. We really want to celebrate film on that night. How the movies make you feel. We’re very macro right now, finding our way. But it comes from a love of film and a love of the show.”

Of course, the first order of business will be recruiting a host. “It’s all we’re thinking about now,” De Luca says. Adds Todd, “We just starting thinking about it, obviously, as we hit the ground running. We have our fat list now as we’re talking through ideas.”

Since Todd serves as president of Pearl Street Films, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s production company, what are the odds that Affleck and Damon could be a hosting duo?

“I just got a bunch of old shows and went back and looked at how young they were that year they won for Good Will Hunting,” Todd says. “They’re really excited and supportive of me doing it, so I’m sure I’ll enlist them in some creative way or another. I doubt they’ll be hosting it, though.”

Although both De Luca and Todd are working producers, they say they both have windows in their schedules that allow them to take on the Oscar assignment. Todd’s Live By Night, which Affleck directed and stars in, opens in limited release via Warner Bros. on Dec. 25. And De Luca’s Fifty Shades of Grey, which Universal will release on Feb. 10, is currently in post-production. “I’m not on location somewhere, so I’m geographically here. And I have nothing slated to start from November forward,” De Luca says. “So this can take all my attention.” And, says Todd, “Since there are two of us, we can always cover each other.”

Certainly, they won’t face a learning curve in terms of knowing how to work together. Todd first met De Luca on her first movie, 1995’s Now and Then, which was released by New Line, where he was then an executive. He went on to supervise the Austin Powers movies she produced and greenlit 2000’s Boiler Room where she first met Affleck. “Mike was amazing to work for at New Line,” Todd testifies. “So we have a long, great, fun relationship. A lot of similar taste. And hopefully a lot of energy to bring to it.”

Oscars: Jimmy Kimmel to Host This Year's Ceremony

After a long wait this year, Jimmy Kimmel has been set as Oscar host, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

The comedian will host the 89th Oscars show, to be broadcast live by ABC on Feb. 26, sources said. His selection is expected to be announced by producers Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd, who came aboard to produce the high-profile event just last month. It will be the first time hosting the Oscars, the granddaddy of all awards show, for Kimmel, who's been the face of ABC's late night telecast since his Jimmy Kimmel Live! launched in 2003.

Disney/ABC Television Group chief Ben Sherwood had publicly urged the Academy to consider handing the high-profile gig to Kimmel. In August, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences struck a new deal with ABC, which pays about $75 million a year to broadcast the Oscars, to extend the agreement until 2028. As part of the pact, ABC got more creative input on the show, including the choice of producers and host, although the Academy retained final say on the decisions. Kimmel has emceed the Emmys twice, in 2012 and this past September.

While he won good reviews for hosting the 68th Primetime Emmys on Sept. 18, ratings fell to an all-time low of 11.3 million viewers. The Oscars aims for a much bigger audience. The most recent ceremony, which Chris Rock hosted in February, attracted 34.3 million total viewers, which was considered a disappointment, since it ranked as an 11-year low for the Oscar-cast. Kimmel also has regularly piggy-backed on the Oscar broadcast, with ABC airing a Jimmy Kimmel Live: After the Oscars special immediately following the awards ceremony.