Second screen streams

Joining the streaming revolution also allows for an evolution of the Oscar show itself. Kramer reveals that this year’s production will feature “a lot of innovation” that’s made possible by the shift to Hulu. Look for more second-screen experiences and a shorter pre-show among those tweaks.

“The pre-show is now a really tight 30-minute production that plays really well as a lead-in to the main telecast,” Kramer teases. “We’re always working with our partners at Disney and ABC, and now Hulu, to think about how the show plays on streaming, second screens, and social.”

Not for nothing, but this year’s host, Conan O’Brien, is a digital media expert in his own right. After a storied career as an icon for Gen-X and Millennial late night viewers, O’Brien has successfully pivoted to podcasting and YouTube, picking up a whole new audience along the way.

“It’s a great lesson for all of us,” Kramer says of how O’Brien can lead this year’s streaming transition by example. “The film industry is a little over a century old, and there have been technological disruptions throughout that time. That’s taught us to be nimble as an organization, and Conan brings a lot of that expertise to the table.”

There could come a day within the industry’s next century when the Oscars are a streaming-only awards show, particularly if the ratings stay flat or decline. That’s a fork in the road that other ceremonies have already taken, including the SAG Awards—which recently moved from cable television to Netflix—and the Indie Spirit Awards, which moved to YouTube after losing its linear home in 2023.

For now, Kramer says that the Oscars are staying put on both linear and digital platforms as it continues to bring its celebration of cinema to the widest-possible global audience. But he also allows that appetites could change as streaming becomes “a bigger slice of the overall engagement pie.”

“The Oscars is a television show, and we want to reach as many people as we can,” he says. “We feel that this is a show that should be enjoyed around the world. There are more and more ways to do that—and streaming is one big way.”