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Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences CEO Bill Kramer called Disney-ABC an “amazing partner” but said he is “confident that our next deal for the Oscars will be very lucrative” regardless of who secures the rights.
Speaking on a panel at the FT Business of Entertainment Summit, Kramer said he has spearheaded an effort to diversify the Academy’s sources of revenue.
“Like any healthy organization, we need diverse revenue to sustain our operations,” he said. “So much of the money that comes in is tied to our deal with Disney/ABC for the Oscars telecast.” Since taking the helm as CEO in early 2022, Kramer said the organization has been “thinking about how we go beyond just being known for the Oscars” and “defining our metric for success beyond one night on linear television.” Newer horizons, he said, include “bringing revenue into the Academy through our museum, which has opened up a lot of philanthropic doors for us”; and “really maximizing our relationships” to drive more year-round interests in events and Academy content.
In 2016, the Academy and Disney-ABC extended their deal, which had been due to expire in 2020, for another eight years. ABC has aired the Oscars since 1976. While the most recent Oscars, held last March, drew a four-year high of 19.5 million viewers, tune-in has diminished markedly since the show’s heyday for a host of reasons.
In the fiscal year that ended in June 2023, the Academy reported $225.6 million in total revenue, up 32.5% from the prior year. Financial terms for the current Oscars TV deal have not been disclosed but likely saw a sizable step-up from the previously reported $75 million a year.
Kramer noted the “Academy 100” capital campaign, which was announced in May. The organization is looking to raise $500 million and has taken in $160 million to date, with the initiative is tied to the 100th Oscars ceremony in 2028.
The panel was a fairly novel setting for a top Academy official. Sitting alongside him were execs from Amazon Games, Bain & Company and Fandango and NBC Sports Next – hardly the movie studio crowd with which someone in his post would have historically associated. Kramer’s presence in the session illustrated the desire of the Academy to not be constrained by the challenges facing the traditional business of theatrical moviegoing or the scope of the TV rights arrangement.
When the topic turned toward live experiences – a broad category encompassing everything from theme parks to sports to Twitch – Kramer pointed to a recent upswing in theatrical moviegoing in the wake of the 2023 strikes. Even so, he said, “We have to acknowledge that people are engaging with movies in different ways right now. Movies are being made and movies are being consumed, and that’s what’s important to the Academy. But in all of this, these are shared, communal experiences. Nothing replicates being in a space together and engaging with art.”
A recent, sold-out screening of a nitrate print of Casablanca hosted by the Academy “gives me hope for all of us,” Kramer said, given that half of the audience was under 40 years old. “Young audiences especially are so discerning,” he said. They turned out for the screening because “we have the best projection, the best sound. Long gone are the days where I’m going to a theater where you can hear the subway under your feet or maybe the sound isn’t great. We all grew up with that, it was sort of a badge of honor. I think young audiences expect more.”
Kramer cited Imax’s viewing parties of NBCUniversal Paris Olympics coverage as an example, and also saluted the news earlier Thursday from the National Association of Theater Owners about a $2.2 B investment by exhibitors.
