Tuesday, April 7, 2026

The Oscars Will Stay In March for the Next Two Years Despite Low Ratings and Nominated Films Already Out of Theaters

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A lot of people, including yours truly, would like the Oscars to move back to February.

This year, the show took place on March 15th. All the nominated movies were long gone from theaters. Interest in them had waned significantly.

The result was a big drop in the ratings.

It seems like this didn’t matter either to ABC or the Academy or both.

Next year, they say, the Oscars will be on March 14th. The following year, the last on ABC, will take place March 5th. The latter will be the 100th anniversary of the Oscars.

Then the show moves to YouTube. Perhaps the Academy will have more luck with an earlier date since there is no ratings sweep period streaming. February is a sweeps month for advertisers on TV.

In step with the Oscars, the SAG Actors Awards will take place on February 28, 2027 and February 20, 2028. SAG and Netflix are smart. This timing will actually make the Actors Awards important again. Now they will happen halfway through final Oscar voting. I’ll bet a lot of Academy voters will wait and see the SAG results before casting their Oscar ballots.

Of course, we will need good movies. For 2027, we have the possibilities of “Dune 3,” “Project Hail Mary,” “Disclosure Day,” “The Odyssey,” “Digger,” and more. If you go by the Oscar projection sites, we already know who won!

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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