Stream a little stream of Oscar: Academy Awards to drive more focus on direct-to-consumer video
Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images Entertainment

Oscar's ready for his annual close-up: The 94th Academy Awards are set for Sunday, and they're primed to show the ongoing incursion into movie production by major video streaming services.
In fact, it seems likely that for the first time, the end-of-the-night Best Picture honor will go to a film made by a streaming service rather than a traditional Hollywood studio. One early favorite is Netflix's (NASDAQ:NFLX) The Power of the Dog, which led all films with 12 Oscar nominations.
But buzz recently has built up for Apple TV+ (NASDAQ:AAPL) and its original film CODA, which could easily steal Netflix's thunder.
Overall, whether originated at a streaming-only service or otherwise, only half of the 10 nominations for Best Picture relied on a traditional exclusive theatrical run. Along with The Power of the Dog and CODA,
Don't Look Up, released on Netflix, and Warner's (NYSE:T) Dune and King Richard saw day-and-date releases to streaming along with theaters.
Last year's Best Picture winner, Nomadland, was distributed in theaters by Disney (NYSE:DIS), but amid the COVID-19 pandemic, most people ended up seeing it on Hulu (DIS, CMCSA).
This year, Netflix (NFLX) led all studios with 27 overall Oscar nominations. But the full pack of streaming giants is well represented whether or not they're tied to old-line studios. Disney+ parent Walt Disney (DIS) earned the next-most nominations, with 23, and Warner Bros., a sibling to HBO Max (T), took home 16.
Apple TV+ (AAPL) drew six nominations, including the big-prize Best Picture nomination for CODA. And Amazon (AMZN) earned four nominations, including three for Being The Ricardos. In the meantime, Amazon just closed on its $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM Studios (OTC:MGMB), which had received eight nominations, including three each for Licorice Pizza and
the latest
James Bond film, No Time to Die.
The Academy Awards aren't just a harbinger of prestige filmmaking, though: They can have a real effect on attention, interest - and money. Comscore notes that ticket sales for King Richard jumped 443% after its Best Picture nomination, and that tickets for Dune went up 380% that weekend as well. Other nominations are pushing their films to lead the most-watched content on their respective streaming services.
See more details from February's Oscar nominations here.