Oscars ad demand rises—why brands have new interest in awards shows

The Oscars should thank the Grammy Awards for the boost it’s giving to ad demand. “Last year, the Oscars were feeling sort of dead,” one media buyer told Ad Age on condition of anonymity. “This year’s Grammys did a lot to turn awards shows around.” Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs The Academy Awards air March 10 on ABC, and demand from advertisers has grown, according to at least four media buyers. Several awards shows deserve thanks after the surprise success they’ve had this year, namely the Golden Globes and Grammys, both of which aired on CBS. Disney announced ad inventory for the Oscars had sold out as of Thursday morning, with advertisers including Don Julio, Rolex and Bank of America, among others. Related: How media buying is evolving Award shows are in higher demand among advertisers “thanks to Paramount,” said a second buyer. “Paramount picked up the Globes and it actually performed, and then the Grammys performed on top of that, so there is renewed interest in [non-sports] live events.” The Golden Globes aired on CBS in early January. At the time, buyers described the broadcast and similar awards shows as “not high demand” and “a vanity play with declining impact,” while anticipating declines in ratings from previous shows. That attitude has shifted significantly in the months since, as audiences have shown renewed interest in live TV. There are several reasons for this change, including streaming fatigue, according to the second media buyer. And the power of Taylor Swift at the Grammys (and Super Bowl), is likely a major catalyst for ratings momentum, the first buyer noted. As advertisers manage tight budgets in a challenging economy, and many focus on digital and performance-based media, award shows offer an increasingly rare opportunity to reach an audience en masse on TV. Ratings on the rise The Globes on CBS this year added nearly 4 million viewers, averaging 10 million total viewers compared with 6.3 million when it aired on NBC in 2023, according to Nielsen data. Last year’s show came after a year-long hiatus due to controversies among its voting body and practices. Similarly, the 2024 Grammys grew to an audience of nearly 17.1 million, up from 12.5 million in 2023. The 2023 Oscars was the most-watched awards show in three years, averaging 18.7 million total viewers. It was one of only three non-football properties to rank in last year’s top 100 broadcasts, according to Nielsen. But that came off of 2022’s broadcast, which was the second lowest in Oscar’s history. For this year, the second buyer predicts ratings will grow according to the season’s trend given that “the Oscars is the pinnacle of awards broadcasts.” Read more: Shiner Bock to air Oscars ad starring Jesse Plemons And the price to advertise in awards shows reflects the reach opportunity. While nowhere near the ballpark of the Super Bowl’s average $7 million price tag per 30 seconds of ad space, the four media buyers confirmed Disney asked $1.7 to $2.2 million per ad unit in the Oscars, although the first buyer put the price closer to $1.5 million and a third buyer said “there were deals to be had.” To be sure, ad sales for awards shows have shifted alongside larger trends in media buying, said Matt Sautner, senior VP of primetime sales at Paramount. “There was once upon a time when we would be extremely well sold in the Grammy Awards coming out of the upfront—it ebbs and flows, and as our clients have more options to consider, it’s hard to plunk down all that money concentrated too heavily in one space,” said Sautner. The executive added that award shows “aren’t as big as they once were … If the audiences fall to such a point where they don’t make sense, that will reveal itself over time. But for now, the quality is still there.” And the momentum doesn’t seem contained to one genre of award show either. Sautner said ad sales for the Tony Awards, which air June 16 on CBS, are “very close to being wrapped” and that “it’s been awhile since we’ve been this far along at this point in time.” In TV’s streaming era, when monoculture shows have been swapped for programming that divides audiences up between every imaginable niche interest, “live events are always going to be more valuable than on-demand [for advertisers] because it’s a mass audience at a single point in time,” said the second buyer. What’s changed Awards shows are the last vestiges of the past era of TV, said the third buyer. “General entertainment has become much more fragmented and diluted—the ratings are not what they used to be. If you are looking for non-sports reach, the tentpoles left are the award shows.” The most recent set of awards shows have also seen a return in normalcy and quality, said Sautner. “I don’t think you can exaggerate the impact that COVID has had on the business and that the strikes have had on the business,” said Sautner. The impact has been both on talent and nominated work, but also audience receptivity to those. Sautner said ratings for the Grammys have been making a slow climb back to pre-pandemic levels over the past years, and are now beginning to show momentum once again. “There’s just been bigger movies this past year that have penetrated popular culture than have since COVID,” said the second buyer. While the presence of Taylor Swift at the Grammys and Super Bowl boosted ratings, the impact of “Barbenheimer” (i.e. the simultaneous theatrical release of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer”) has also been a boost to conversations around the Globes and Oscars, Sautner and the second buyer said. But a fourth buyer said any year of strength in awards shows is an exception rather than a trend. “The potential for a really strong rating is always there, if the conditions are right,” said the buyer. “When Taylor Swift is up for a Grammy or ‘Barbenheimer’ is in the conversation, it likely leads to a pop. It’s not so much cyclical, but year-to-year dependent. But the capacity to hit big is always there.”

Oscars ad demand rises—why brands have new interest in awards shows

Featured Stories