The 2023 Academy Awards are suddenly just around the corner, with the ceremony set to take place Sunday, March 12. Like every year since 1976, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will air its prestigious awards show live on ABC. The Disney network will be the home of the awards at least through 2028, given their current deal.
But is that the only place you’ll be able to watch the show this year? Is there a chance that the awards show will be streamed on Disney+? After all, Disney+ is the streaming home of the Oscar nomination announcement show, having hosted it two years in a row.
In fact, the 2022 Oscar nominations were the first live-streamed event in the history of Disney+. The service then began to expand its live offerings later in the year, when “Dancing With the Stars” moved off its linear TV spot on ABC, which is also owned by Disney, and became a streaming exclusive.
Sadly for cord-cutters, it’s pretty unlikely that Disney+ will be streaming the Academy Awards this year. From a technical standpoint, it wouldn’t be all that difficult to pull off a live stream of a show like the Oscars, since it is already airing on Disney’s linear network, but given the premium that the company will likely charge advertisers, it is unlikely that Disney would want to siphon off any potential broadcast viewers, since network ad rates are much higher than streaming.
Related: How to Stream All 2023 Oscar-Nominated Movies
However, there is a very good chance that future years will bring a live stream of the Oscars to Disney+. Initially, this will almost certainly take the form of a simulcast, with a linear broadcast still available on ABC according to the current agreement. This would help older viewers, who are a large part of the Academy Awards audience, prepare for a transition to an eventual streaming-only product.
Other streamers are starting to embrace awards shows, as well. Netflix recently struck a deal with the Screen Actors Guild to become the host of the SAG Awards starting in 2024. Peacock live-streamed this year’s Golden Globes, and saw a fairly impressive viewership bump despite the linear broadcast hitting near record lows.
According to a recent survey by Axios, viewing of awards shows on TV has fallen by as much as 80% in the last 20 years. Just over 16.5 million people watched the 2022 Academy Awards, down from an average of around 40 million as recently as 2015. With falling TV ratings, and other awards shows already making the switch to streaming, the writing may be on the wall for the Academy Awards. They could be available to stream on Disney+ as soon as 2024, even if they remain on ABC through 2028.
Disney+
Disney+ is a video streaming service with over 13,000 series and films from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, The Muppets, and more. It is available in 61 countries and 21 languages. It is notable for its popular original series like “The Mandalorian,” “Ms. Marvel,” “Loki,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” and “Andor.”