Oscars Ads Sell Out as Disney Hopes for ‘Rebuild’ After Ratings Fall (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorNo matter how many awards categories get screen time at this year’s Oscars telecast, one thing will be certain: There will be advertising around them.Disney has sold all the 60 commercial slots it has around its coming broadcast of the event late last week, according to Rita Ferro, president of Disney Advertising Sales, and the company hopes the 2022 version of the program will serve as a “rebuild year” for the spectacle after the coronavirus pandemic severely crimped moviegoing.“We are all coming back to getting social and going out,” says Ferro, in an interview, and Disney’s ABC and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have agreed to make changes to the show after it has run into strong viewership headwinds in recent years.

Executives, she says, have worked to solve the question of “how do we make the show more compelling, more relevant to audiences?” Among the changes: a trio of female hosts — Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall — after three years of programs without a designated person to lead the crowd; a new producer, Will Packer; and a decision to award several categories during off-air moments, then edit those presentations in later n a bid to streamline the event, which is often criticized for being too long.

Ratings for the program are often determined by the popularity of its best picture nominees, which this year include “West Side Story,” “Dune,” “King Richard” and “Belfast.”“The three female hosts are diverse and funny and will bring to the show the unique audiences that they represent,” says Ferro.