News > Film ads will run during the Oscars for the frist time ever

Variety is reporting that film as will be allowed during the Oscar telecast for the first time ever. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences board of governors voted Tuesday night to ease its longstanding ban on movie advertisements running in the Oscar telecast.

The board voted to allow a limited number of spots for movies that will not open until the last week of April at the earliest — meaning that none of the nommed pics can be tubthumped during the telecast, Acad prexy Sid Ganis told Daily Variety. Ads for sequels or prequels to pics in contention in the picture, docu and animation categories will not be allowed.

Acad had banned movie advertising ever since the Oscars were first televised in 1953 in an effort to avoid any suggestion that studio coin influenced the outcome of the awards.

The showcase of never-before-seen spots for, say, next year’s tentpoles like "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," "G.I. Joe" and "Terminator Salvation," could be a highly promotable element for next year’s telecast — especially as the Oscars are looking to rebound from this year’s record-low aud of 32 million viewers.

Next year’s telecast is set for Feb. 22 on ABC.