Disney (and others) at the Box Office - Current State of Affairs

[TP2000]

For those wondering why there's no new parade, and no new show in the Hyperion, and empty buildings in all six American theme parks....

ABC apparently pays about $100 Million per year on their current 8 year contract to broadcast the Oscars. That contract expires in 2028 and ABC has recently declined to bid for a new contract past '28, which tells me that whichever network ends up with the new Oscars contract (Is the CW still around? Maybe Hallmark? Dumont is long gone, but what about Bravo?) they are going to be paying a lot less than $100 Million per year.

ABC's decision to not bid again exclusively on the Oscars contract came before this year's viewership declined to 18 Million.

Oscars Exploring New TV Home After ABC’s Exclusive Negotiating Window Ends

Deadline has confirmed with sources that the Academy's exclusive negotiating window with the Oscars' longtime broadcaster, ABC, has lapsed.

deadline.com

 

[Disney Irish]

Adults in the demo of 18-49 at 3.92? The Oscars have been skewing older for years now. The context here in 2025 is that this isn't a huge gain, but merely a small gain in a very older overall demographic.

In March, 1998, when Titanic pulled in a lot of young women viewers, that year's Oscars telecast had a 18-49 rating of 24.90.

So that means that 2025's Oscars telecast of 3.92 in the same demo got only 16% of the young demographic that 1998's Oscars telecast got.

Which aligns with the fact that 2025's Oscars telecast had about 31% of the viewers as the 1998 Oscars telecast. Meanwhile, the population of America has grown since 1998 by 66 Million people, or by 23%. But the viewership declined by nearly 70%.

I wonder how much money ABC (Disney) paid to get the Academy Awards broadcast rights for crashing ratings?

You missed the whole point (or ignored it) as usual. The drops that are happening as coming from the over 50 crowd, and I suspect it’s largely in your generation (over 60) that dropped the most.

And while the gains in the younger crowd are small compared to the 1990s, or whatever other year you want to use, there are gains. And that is what the producers are going to look at as they make tweaks for next years show. As they look to see what the younger generations care about.

For those wondering why there's no new parade, and no new show in the Hyperion, and empty buildings in all six American theme parks....

ABC apparently pays about $100 Million per year on their current 8 year contract to broadcast the Oscars. That contract expires in 2028 and ABC has recently declined to bid for a new contract past '28, which tells me that whichever network ends up with the new Oscars contract (Is the CW still around? Maybe Hallmark? Dumont is long gone, but what about Bravo?) they are going to be paying a lot less than $100 Million per year.

ABC's decision to not bid again exclusively on the Oscars contract came before this year's viewership declined to 18 Million.

Oscars Exploring New TV Home After ABC’s Exclusive Negotiating Window Ends

Deadline has confirmed with sources that the Academy's exclusive negotiating window with the Oscars' longtime broadcaster, ABC, has lapsed.

deadline.com

Well the next 3 years are set at least, it’ll continue to be on ABC and Hulu until 2028.

 

[BrianLo]

I am not. No one expects Deadpool to win the Oscars. There's a middle ground between Deadpool and Anora.

As has been mentioned, the issue is more that they don’t make these middle ground films. A lot of that mass market prestige general entertainment rotated to the TV space.

I love wicked the musical. I was beyond impressed with how well they translated it to screen. In no iteration of the Oscar’s is Wicked a best picture winner. It’s not even a best musical Tony winner. Frankly it was lucky the nomination pool was 10.

 

[BrianLo]

As a follow up, my concerns were actually taken fairly seriously by Forbes editorial. You’ll notice someone hasn’t had articles in a few weeks.

I guess this forum matters a little, thanks for people who had to listen to my conspiracy cycle and acted directly or indirectly as a sounding board until I figured out what was going on.

 

[Architectural Guinea Pig]

2015 Oscars: 37.2 million viewers

2025 Oscars: 18 million viewers

Dropped by half in the past ten years. What will it be another ten years?

A single Mr. Beast video: 50+ million viewers

 

[MagicMouseFan]

For those wondering why there's no new parade, and no new show in the Hyperion, and empty buildings in all six American theme parks....

ABC apparently pays about $100 Million per year on their current 8 year contract to broadcast the Oscars. That contract expires in 2028 and ABC has recently declined to bid for a new contract past '28, which tells me that whichever network ends up with the new Oscars contract (Is the CW still around? Maybe Hallmark? Dumont is long gone, but what about Bravo?) they are going to be paying a lot less than $100 Million per year.

ABC's decision to not bid again exclusively on the Oscars contract came before this year's viewership declined to 18 Million.

Oscars Exploring New TV Home After ABC’s Exclusive Negotiating Window Ends

Deadline has confirmed with sources that the Academy's exclusive negotiating window with the Oscars' longtime broadcaster, ABC, has lapsed.

deadline.com

I imagine Netflix or Apple will air the Oscars in the future

 

[donaldtoo]

For those wondering why there's no new parade, and no new show in the Hyperion, and empty buildings in all six American theme parks....

ABC apparently pays about $100 Million per year on their current 8 year contract to broadcast the Oscars. That contract expires in 2028 and ABC has recently declined to bid for a new contract past '28, which tells me that whichever network ends up with the new Oscars contract (Is the CW still around? Maybe Hallmark? Dumont is long gone, but what about Bravo?) they are going to be paying a lot less than $100 Million per year.

ABC's decision to not bid again exclusively on the Oscars contract came before this year's viewership declined to 18 Million.

Oscars Exploring New TV Home After ABC’s Exclusive Negotiating Window Ends

Deadline has confirmed with sources that the Academy's exclusive negotiating window with the Oscars' longtime broadcaster, ABC, has lapsed.

deadline.com

Could they broadcast it on WACAN (Who Actually Cares Anymore Network)…?!

 

[Casper Gutman]

A single Mr. Beast video: 50+ million viewers

What a pathetic indictment of humanity.

 

[Farerb]

What a pathetic indictment of humanity.

I honestly don't understand the appeal of YouTubers or streamers. People should read more books.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Apparently does. So if it had been ABC only, even lower seems likely.

I saw an article that said while ratings were down overall, viewership for those 18-49 was up.

 

[easyrowrdw]

As a follow up, my concerns were actually taken fairly seriously by Forbes editorial. You’ll notice someone hasn’t had articles in a few weeks.

I guess this forum matters a little, thanks for people who had to listen to my conspiracy cycle and acted directly or indirectly as a sounding board until I figured out what was going on.

Interesting! Did they reply to you saying something? Is it possible she's just on vacation?

 

[Agent H]

What a pathetic indictment of humanity.

I’d rather ride superstar limo then watch one of his videos.

 

[TalkingHead]

I saw an article that said while ratings were down overall, viewership for those 18-49 was up.

I saw something about that. Maybe a combo of streaming effect and Ariana/Chalamet drawing some younger viewers?

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I saw something about that. Maybe a combo of streaming effect and Ariana/Chalamet drawing some younger viewers?

I think a lot of the nominees did skew younger in appeal, Wicked, Dune, The Substance etc

 

[TP2000]

A single Mr. Beast video: 50+ million viewers

I have no idea who that is (and my 8 second Google search left me scratching my head; he's a YouTuber, but what he does I'm still unclear on), but it's an interesting point on the mass appeal of new media options.

More on that below...

What a pathetic indictment of humanity.

While entertainment is a personal choice, and I can mourn the loss of some of my favorite tonier TV evenings of yore like Upstairs, Downstairs and NOVA or even Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, or what 60 Minutes used to be, I would caution against sounding too elitist and dismissive of popular entertainment and personal choices.

Clearly tens of millions of Americans are tuning in and watching/listening to long-form podcasts and YouTube content. Just as they used to watch/listen to the 3 hour long Oscars ceremony every year.

Spotify doesn't release ratings on individual podcasts, but the Joe Rogan Podcast featuring a 3 hour long interview/discussion with President Trump last October was viewed by 56 Million people on YouTube within a few days. Plus whatever the tens of millions of Spotify downloads it had. Popular YouTube videos on a range of topics, often an hour or longer, routinely rank in the tens of millions of views.

The Oscars would love to get back up to half of that kind of viewership. Can you imagine the change in tone on this topic if the Oscars had shot back up to 28 Million viewers this year (half the Joe Rogan audience for 3 hour content), instead of dropping to 18 Million?

 

[TP2000]

The final box office tally is in from overseas through March 3rd for Captain America: Brave New World.

After it's third full weekend globally, it looks fairly certain it won't get to Ant-Man Quantumania territory. It still could reach $400 Million globally by the end of its box office run though. That would be a loss of around $50 Million for Marvel's latest.

Captain America: Brave New World (2025) - Box Office and Financial Information

Financial analysis of Captain America: Brave New World (2025) including production budget, domestic and international box office gross, DVD and Blu-ray sales reports.

www.the-numbers.com

 

[Tony the Tigger]

The Oscars should be for the “mainstream popularity”. It’s the biggest awards show of the year for film so the winners should reflect that. 20 years ago Best Picture would have been WICKED (the epic big budget musical) or even DUNE but the Academy is so determined to be “edgy” now that they are missing the point of their own existence.

For better or worse, the Oscars are not the place to pluck obscure films from the film festival circuit and put them on THE biggest pedestal in Hollywood. In a few years, ANORA will be forgotten. Who still remembers or talks about CODA? Or MOONLIGHT? Or NOMADLAND? Or even EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE?

You know what people DO remember? TITANIC, GLADIATOR, THE LORD OF THE RINGS, CHICAGO, SCHINDLER’S LIST, FORREST GUMP, DANCES WITH WOLVES, SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, THE GODFATHER, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, CASABLANCA, etc...

Movies that have a wider social & cultural impact are the ones that stand the test of time, and those are the movies the Oscars should be recognizing. Who out there is quoting lines from ANORA or NOMADLAND?

Oh, my. Where to begin?

I think you're confusing the Oscars with the People's Choice Awards which actually is about mainstream popularity.

Except the Oscars (not even the official name) is literally the awards handed out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, not the "Academy of Mainstream Popular Movies". Its an award to celebrate the art and science of motion picture, not to award the most popular movie of the year.

In addition in order to allow more popular movies into the awards they have expanded the Best Picture (and maybe a few other categories) to something like 10 nominees. So they recognize that they need to include some popular movies, but its not about popular movies exclusively, that is the People's Choice Awards.

That’ll do!

 

[donaldtoo]

I have no idea who that is (and my 8 second Google search left me scratching my head; he's a YouTuber, but what he does I'm still unclear on), but it's an interesting point on the mass appeal of new media options.

More on that below...



While entertainment is a personal choice, and I can mourn the loss of some of my favorite tonier TV evenings of yore like Upstairs, Downstairs and NOVA or even Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, or what 60 Minutes used to be, I would caution against sounding too elitist and dismissive of popular entertainment and personal choices.

Clearly tens of millions of Americans are tuning in and watching/listening to long-form podcasts and YouTube content. Just as they used to watch/listen to the 3 hour long Oscars ceremony every year.

Spotify doesn't release ratings on individual podcasts, but the Joe Rogan Podcast featuring a 3 hour long interview/discussion with President Trump last October was viewed by 56 Million people on YouTube within a few days. Plus whatever the tens of millions of Spotify downloads it had. Popular YouTube videos on a range of topics, often an hour or longer, routinely rank in the tens of millions of views.

The Oscars would love to get back up to half of that kind of viewership. Can you imagine the change in tone on this topic if the Oscars had shot back up to 28 Million viewers this year (half the Joe Rogan audience for 3 hour content), instead of dropping to 18 Million?

I didn’t even know the “Academy of Let’s Pat Each Other on the Back for Play Acting and Broadcast it Around the World” thing was on Sunday night, ‘til I woke up Monday morning and read some posts in another thread about it…!!!!!

 

[MisterPenguin]

Academy of Let’s Pat Each Other on the Back for Play Acting and Broadcast it Around the World

I see you understand what an "awards show" is.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

No, that's not what I said at all. The Oscars wasn't on TV for the first 24 years because TV wasn't a thing yet.

The Academy Awards began live radio broadcasts nationwide in the 1930's. In 1946 the listenership for the live Oscars broadcast on the ABC Radio network was pegged at 50 Million nationwide. That would have been 35% of the American population in '46.

Last year, in 2024, only 6% of the American population watched the Oscars on TV.

Fun Fact: In 1940 the LA Times leaked the winners that year just before the show began on the radio, and local radio stations soon spread the news nationwide. It was a radio scandal! In 1941 the Academy enlisted an accounting firm and created a system of sealed and guarded envelopes to prevent any media leaks. That practice continues today.

Good thing too, as Twitter would spread even faster than radio or TV.



The Oscars used to be a big deal. I'm not making that up.

In 1975, 23% of Americans watched the Oscars.
In 1998 (Titanic!), 21% of Americans watched the Oscars.
In 2010, 14% of Americans watched the Oscars.
In 2024, 6% of Americans watched the Oscars.

I wonder what last night's ratings were? We should know by this evening or tomorrow. And we can include a few hundred thousand from Hulu!

I agree. I am "older" too and grew up watching the Oscars every year. It was an "event" that we didn't miss!
Then it became a stand for politics, and that was a big turn off. Many years later, I could care less about the Oscars and won't watch them anymore.