The Academy Awards of Merit, more commonly known as The Oscars, came to fruition in 1927 but was not televised until 1953, which is perfect since the prices of television sets had dropped making them more accessible to buy. Since then the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has awarded more than 3000 industry professionals with their own little statues, garnering views in the millions every year; determined by the votes of more than 9000 AMPAS members and organized into 17 different categories. However, this year is different…
This year the Oscars decided, in addition to broadcasting on the ABC network, to broadcast on various streaming platforms including Hulu Live TV, YouTubeTV, AT&T TV and FuboTV. This came about a month after the Super Bowl set precedent as one of the country’s major sporting events being streamed on a free streaming service: Tubi.
This addition is pivotal to what happens next in the television industry, award shows and sporting events have always been a lucrative part of cable television’s revenue. For example, the Super Bowl averaged a record 127.7 million U.S. viewers across television and streaming platforms; of those 127.7 million roughly 10% of those viewers streamed the game via Tubi.
In 2015 it was estimated that 65% of adults in the 18-29 age bracket had cable television by a study conducted by the Pew Research Center. However, in 2023 the same study concluded that only 34% of adults in the 18-29 age range had cable.
As streaming becomes more popular amongst people of old age and young it is clear that cable and satellite television are on their way out, and with sporting events and award shows toeing the line of switching over, it’s only a matter of time before cable tv is finally put to rest and the television industry goes downstream.