Oscar ratings may have been going mostly down for the past, ahem, four decades, but ABC’s contract to broadcast the Academy Awards ceremony has been extended for six more years, though 2020.
"This contract ensures that the Oscar show will be an ABC tradition for 45 consecutive years,” Academy president Tom Sherak was quoted as saying on Thursday.
According to the Academy’s press release, the new agreement for the domestic broadcasts of the Oscar ceremony adds six years to the existing contract, which was scheduled to expire in 2014. International rights, however, are covered by a separate agreement with Walt Disney International which runs through 2014.
The 2011 Academy Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center.
Photo: AMPAS