How ABC Won the 2024 Oscars

Although streaming services have been dominating awards in the past few years, ABC and linear TV are coming out ahead at the Oscars.

During Sunday’s presentation of the 96th Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, Universal and Searchlight Pictures dominated the awards, as many streamers were left on the sidelines. However, the night truly belonged to Ryan Gosling and the Kens with a viral performance of “I’m Just Ken,” complete with a sparkly pink suit.

These moments, along with several other factors, all added up to a big night for broadcaster ABC.

Big live moments

Viewership for linear broadcasts of awards shows has largely ticked up in 2024, and Sunday’s show provided several live moments that could bring strong numbers, as the telecast looks to build on its average of 18.8 million viewers from 2023.

Kimmel opened the show with a nearly 14-minute monologue in which he took several swipes at the Academy, calling out snubs of Barbie’s Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie. When the audience clapped, Kimmel followed with, “I know you’re clapping, but you’re the ones who didn’t vote for her.”

The Barbie hype continued throughout the night, with Billie Eilish and her brother, Finneas, winning Best Original Song for “What Was I Made For,” as well as a performance from the pair.

However, as mentioned, the moment of the night belonged to Gosling, with Slash making a cameo and Margot Robbie also getting involved.

The crowd was so energetic during Gosling’s singing that Emma Stone mentioned it while accepting the award for Outstanding Lead Actress, blaming her “broken” dress on the “I’m Just Ken” performance.

Becky G, Scott George and the Osage Singers and Jon Batiste also performed at the ceremony, and Kimmel had a literal show-stopper by calling out Donald Trump for a social media post criticizing the show.

Bye, streamers

Streaming services have come up big at major awards in the past few years, including 2022 Best Picture winner CODA from Apple TV+, marking the first time a streaming service won Best Picture. However, this year’s award show belonged to Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, with streamers just looking on in envy.

Overall, it’s a huge plus for linear TV, as the streamers were shut out of most of the major awards. Among the top performers, there were seven wins for Universal, five for Searchlight Pictures and two for A24 (home of Everything Everywhere All at Once, which brought home seven Oscars in 2023).

Netflix won one Academy Award this year, taking the award for Best Live Action Short Film, and there wasn’t much notable happening in streaming beyond that.

Ad sales going strong

Disney had an early indication that things were going well for ABC with another Oscars ad sales sellout, as pricing went back up in 2024.

This year’s ceremony had a variety of sponsors spanning 17 categories: apparel, auto, beverage, consumer packaged goods, entertainment, financial services, healthcare, insurance, luxury spirits, media and entertainment, pet care, pharmaceutical, retail, streaming, technology and telecom.  

Plus, there were several brand firsts in the show, such as Don Julio having the first brand integration in a Kimmel comedy bit.

During the ceremony, Diageo (Don Julio’s parent company) pulled off a viral marketing stunt, introducing its Don Julio 1942 Tequila 50-milliliter bottle as Kimmel’s sidekick, Guillermo Rodriguez, toasted with Best Actor nominee Colman Domingo and gave tequila shots to audience members.

In an ADWEEK exclusive, we learned that Kimmel, a long-standing partner of Diageo for more than 13 years, was a critical part of the stunt and pitched the idea, according to Teni Melidonian, chief Oscars officer, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

If anything, the tequila is just another reason to toast to ABC.