{"id":527583,"date":"2026-03-10T20:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T20:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/527583\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T20:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T20:48:09","slug":"the-countdown-is-on-for-the-98th-oscars-with-conan-obrien-back-and-a-moving-in-memoriam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/527583\/","title":{"rendered":"The countdown is on for the 98th Oscars, with Conan O\u2019Brien back and a ‘moving’ In Memoriam"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lynette Howell Taylor<\/a> has seen the Oscars<\/a> from a few different vantage points: As a nominee, in 2019 for \u201cA Star is Born,\u201d as a producer of the broadcast in 2020, as a member of the film academy\u2019s board of governors and, for the last three years, as awards chair. It\u2019s made her first year as the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences feel like a natural transition. And one thing she is certain of is that every Oscars is unique.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery year is different,\u201d Taylor said in a recent interview alongside film Academy CEO Bill Kramer<\/a>. \u201cEvery season is different. Every set of movies is different. And so, the show is always different every year.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a tricky thing to both honor the people in the room while also making an entertaining show for a home audience. But behind the scenes, from returning host Conan O\u2019Brien<\/a> to the producers and Emmy-winning production design team, is a group of people who know how to dazzle a global audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we, in the past couple of years, have really hit that balance right,\u201d Kramer said. \u201cWe\u2019re looking at that puzzle constantly and this year is going to be spectacular.\u201d<\/p>\n

Final preparations are underway for the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday<\/a> and everyone is feeling good about what they have planned, including performances, tributes and a special spotlight for their newest award for casting<\/a>. It helps that the top nominees, \u201cSinners\u201d and \u201cOne Battle After Another,\u201d<\/a> happen to be great.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always about the movies and the movies this year? They\u2019re all the things,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cThere are escapist movies, big commercial movies, there are movies that are really brave and really bold in their storytelling \u2026 I get really emotional when I talk about the quality of this year\u2019s films.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing the audience<\/p>\n

The ratings for the Oscars<\/a> have been ticking up since plummeting to an all-time low in 2021 during the pandemic. The winning movie last year, \u201cAnora,\u201d might have been smaller than \u201cOppenheimer\u201d the previous year, but ratings still went up slightly from 19.5 million in 2024 to 19.7 million in 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The show had an especially big lift among people ages 18 to 49, driven by mobile and laptop watches from younger viewers. Last year was the first time the ceremony was available to stream live on Hulu. They\u2019ve also been partnering with popular internet personalities like Amelia Dimoldenberg<\/a> in an effort to reach new audiences in a way that still feels \u201cAcademy appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur audiences are growing,\u201d Kramer said. \u201cAnd young people are watching the show in ways that we\u2019ve not seen before and that\u2019s really great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Early planning and last-minute pivots<\/p>\n

Boosted ratings might not be a coincidence with the fact that planning for the show has been starting earlier and earlier in recent years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gives us time to talk through so many things pre-nominations. So once the nominations happen, we can start focusing on what that means for the show,\u201d Kramer said. \u201cThere\u2019s not a lot of last-minute panicking over anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the ways that will manifest in this year\u2019s show is the production design, from the set to the red carpet, details are pored over for many months.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve done such beautiful work \u2026 and this year, they\u2019ve just gone a whole step further with a different feel that\u2019s very intimate and warm,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cIt\u2019s a bit of a departure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though a lot is pre-planned, they’re also always thinking of ways to meet the moment, which has led to some major showstoppers. Last year\u2019s big opener<\/a> with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande was a relatively late addition and ended up being one of the more memorable parts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re open to pivoting, depending on what\u2019s going on in the world,\u201d Kramer said.<\/p>\n

A very special In Memoriam<\/p>\n

The deaths of many beloved figures in the film world over the past year have hit hard, including Robert Redford<\/a>, Diane Keaton<\/a>, Rob Reiner<\/a>, Catherine O\u2019Hara<\/a>, Robert Duvall<\/a>, Val Kilmer<\/a>, Malcolm-Jamal Warner<\/a>, James Van Der Beek<\/a> and Claudia Cardinale<\/a>, just to name a few.<\/p>\n

Last year Morgan Freeman took the stage to honor Gene Hackman, who had been found dead just days earlier, and others. This year there have been rumors about Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal joining forces for Reiner, but the organizers are neither confirming nor denying that reunion.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously we\u2019re paying special attention to the In Memoriam this year. It\u2019s going to be robust and beautiful and very, very moving,\u201d Kramer said. \u201cWe won\u2019t give away any secrets. You\u2019ll have to tune in.\u201d<\/p>\n

As always, there will be a longer version of the In Memoriam available online to recognize people who might not make the broadcast cut.<\/p>\n

It’ll be three-and-a-half hours. Really.<\/p>\n

The longest broadcast in Oscars history, the 74th show in 2002 hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, clocked in at four hours and 23 minutes. But even with a new category, the people behind the show are striving to do it in three-and-a-half hours, or less.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of moving pieces, but it\u2019s totally doable,\u201d Kramer said. \u201cAnd casting\u2019s going to get a gorgeous moment on the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor added that awards shows are like movies. Sometimes a long film can feel like \u201cwatching paint dry.\u201d Other times, it flies by.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really focus on making the show as dynamic and emotionally connecting as possible and really celebrating movies in a way that audiences want to stay tuned for,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n

Looking toward 100 and a future on YouTube<\/p>\n

Planning is already underway for the 100th Oscars in 2028. They\u2019re also charting a course beyond too: In 2029, the Oscars will move from traditional broadcast television to YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cYouTube signals our desire to be a more global organization that reaches more audiences around the world,\u201d Kramer said. \u201cThe Oscars are just one part of a year-round deal where we\u2019re building a hub for cinema on YouTube that will have our SciTech Awards, our museum programming. Google Arts and Culture will be digitizing components of our collection and making it available to the public. This is all about reach and growing audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lynette Howell Taylor has seen the Oscars from a few different vantage points: As a nominee, in 2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":527584,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[34570,141752,207352,49,48,361,46774,75,207353,18744],"class_list":["post-527583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-academy-awards","tag-academy-of-motion-picture-arts-and-sciences","tag-bill-kramer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-celebrities","tag-conan-obrien","tag-entertainment","tag-lynette-howell-taylor","tag-oscars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=527583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/527584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}