AMPAS® moves 82nd Oscar® Gala to early March!

Hugh Jackman, second from right, host of 81st awards.


Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, announced yesterday that the 82nd Annual Academy Awards® (Oscars®) presentation gala will be held Sunday, 7 March 2010. Hooray!

As those of you who follow this blog know, I have posted that one of the contributing factors to the steep decline in ratings for the Oscar telecast over the past three years has been the early date. I maintained that March gives more time for the Academy to publicize the event.

Well, this past February, the rating for the 81st Oscar broadcast (2009) on the Walt Disney company's ABC network, was 12.1 in the key demographic group of adults 18-49, and the broadcast attracted 36.3 million viewers overall, up 4.3 million from last year. There was a gain of 13% in that demographic group from last year, which was the lowest since 1992. Last year, a combination of factors, including the writers strike, impacted the ratings.

No doubt the writers strike wounded a number of shows in 2008, and was one cause of the lowest Academy Award gala in at least a decade. The telecast drew about 33% of people watching television, a steep decline from 2007's 42%. For more 81st Oscar ratings analysis, click title of this post.

The ceremony will again take place at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network.

Key dates currently scheduled are:

Tuesday, December 1, 2009: Official Screen Credits forms due.
Monday, December 28, 2009: Nominations ballots mailed.
Saturday, January 23, 2010: Nominations polls close 5 p.m., PT.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010: Nominations announced 5:30 a.m., PT, Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010: Final ballots mailed.
Monday, February 15, 2010: Nominees Luncheon.
Saturday, February 20, 2010: Scientific and Technical Achievement Awards presentation.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010: Final polls close 5 p.m., PT.
Sunday, March 7, 2010: 82nd Annual Academy Awards Presentation.

Will the telecast ratings go up again this year? If so, how much? Sorry. I'm not going out on a limb to answer either question, except to say, "We shall see."