• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, March 23, 2022

Disney has announced that it has sold out the advertising inventory for the 94th Academy Awards telecast (now being referred to as the Oscars telecast) on March 27.

Disney Advertising, working with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, sold all 60 slots in the show to advertisers across 14 categories: apparel, auto, beverage, consumer packaged goods, entertainment, financial services, healthcare, insurance, luxury spirits, media and entertainment, pharmaceutical, retail, streaming, and technology and telecom. 

This year's sponsors are Crypto.com, Pfizer, and Rolex and Verizon.

Participating sponsors include Amazon XCM, Anheuser-Busch (Michelob), Bacardi (Bombay Sapphire), Bank of America, Best Buy, Capital One, CBS Interactive (Paramount +), CNN+, Corona, Discovery+, Disney+; Eli Lilly, Geicod, Google, Incyte, Kellogg, Kraft, Lionsgate, Lucid Motors, Macys, Mastercard, Meta, Peacock, Reckitt (Mucinex), Snapchat, State Farm, Stellantis, Subway and Walt Disney Studios, among others.

Viewership for all awards shows has been declining for years.

Last year’s Oscars telecast drew just 10.4 million viewers — down more than 56% from 2020’s 23.64 million, according to Nielsen.

In a bid to revive interest, the Academy Awards this year partnered with Twitter to drive popular voting on favorite movies and scenes — with the results to be featured during the live telecast.

The favorite movie pick — which need not be one of the films officially nominated for best picture by the Academy — will be announced on the show, and five popular-vote-winning scenes from 2021 movies will also be shown during the ceremony, alongside fans’ tweets.

The Academy tried introducing a “most popular film” category in 2019 to provide the opportunity for blockbusters or fan favorites not nominated for best picture to be included in the ceremony. But the category was dropped after heavy criticism from Oscar voters and critics.