Confirmed: Disney+ to Stream 2023 Academy Awards in Five Countries, United States Will Not Be One of Them
Grab the popcorn and your Oscar-pool tally sheets, because the 95th Annual Academy Awards will emanate from Hollywood this Sunday, March 12, and will be broadcast on ABC beginning at 8 p.m. ET. ABC has been the broadcast home of the Oscars since 1976, but as we move more and more into the streaming age of television, we have seen an increasing number of awards shows become part of the plans for streaming platforms, and Disney+ is getting in on the game; at least internationally.
How to Stream The Oscars
- When: March 12, 2023 at 8pm ET
- TV: ABC
- Stream: Watch with a 5-Day Free Trial of DIRECTV STREAM
From this year's Golden Globes giving a bump to Peacock to the Screen Actors Guild Awards airing exclusively on Netflix beginning with the 2024 season, the live, water-cooler nature of awards shows provide streaming services with an opportunity to capture attention in ways that are normally reserved for live events on broadcast and cable outlets.
So, with Disney’s broadcast network being the home of the Oscars for over 45 years, it does lead to the question of how the company’s flagship streaming platform will handle this year’s live broadcast. Unfortunately, as The Streamable supposed in January, Disney+ will not be livestreaming this year’s Academy Awards in the United States, but that doesn’t mean that the service won’t be a part of the festivities.
A Disney spokesperson confirmed to The Streamable that Disney+ will be live-streaming the 95th Academy Awards in Hungary, India, Indonesia, Norway, and the Philippines. Obviously, broadcast agreements are different for each market, but having the Oscars on Disney+ in countries around the world does seem to at least leave the door open for the ceremony to air on the streamer in the U.S. eventually, especially as the efficacy of awards shows on broadcast networks continues to fade.
Related: How to Stream All 2023 Oscar-Nominated Movies
A recent survey indicates that television awards show viewing has declined by as much as 80% in the last 20 years. In 2015, around 40 million people watched “Birdman” win the Best Picture Oscar, but that dipped to just over 16.5 million people last year as “CODA” made Apple TV+ the first streamer to take home film’s top prize. But the decline in interest surrounding the Academy Awards isn’t limited to just the ever-declining impact of broadcast TV. Data released this week indicates that, aside from “Top Gun: Maverick,” more than twice as many people have not seen a single Best Picture nominee than have seen a single one.
So, as the Oscars become more of a niche program, rather than a major cultural touchpoint, perhaps their future is on streaming. Disney+ already airs the Academy Award nominations in full, while ABC’s “Good Morning America” dips in for the biggest categories; so it might not be long until cinephiles can celebrate the biggest night in movies exclusively on streaming.
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.”