Oscar Ratings Ploy: Presenters Staying Secret Till Showtime

LOS ANGELES — Guess who's coming to the Oscars this year?

Leslie Unger, a spokeswoman for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, says none of the superstar presenters will be announced before the February 22 telecast.

Awards shows, including the Academy Awards, typically tout celebrity presenters to generate interest. But Oscar producers Laurence Mark and Bill Condon are breaking tradition. They're hoping to lure TV viewers by keeping the star power a secret until showtime.

Unger said Wednesday: "There will be fantastic movie stars that appeal to a whole range of movie lovers and fans of our show. We're just not going to tell you who they all are."

The Oscars will air live from the Kodak Theatre.

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On the Net:

http://www.oscars.org

Comments

[josephbua]

Most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.

[lholguin]

I still won't watch because it boring. And, I don't have TV.

[ibivi]

Big deal! They have to do more than have "surprise" presenters. Anyone who watches award shows knows the usual suspects. How about not having Jack Nicholson for once? Keep the show at 3 hours tops. And no dopey dance numbers. Okay, I'm getting bored already.

[Giada]

This is not building suspense, but creating frustration. Knowledge of the presenter's builds the buzz.
Poor PR and marketing.

[JoeGillis2]

Desperate ratings times call for desperate measures. However, if AMPAS really wanted to try and amp up overnights (at least for the first hour), they should have kept Hugh-Jackm­an-as-host secret until game time. Still not too late to swap him out with Nicole Kidman...

[wm1066]

As someone who has worked in advertising for a number of years I have to say,
"Thats really stupid!!!!"
Where do they get these people? Viewership has been on the decline for the last couple of years so they decide not to advertise their assets! I guess Mercury really is in Retrograde to come up with an idea like that.