How much of ABC's surge in pricing for the Oscars is attributable to the stronger upfront and deals made last May?

McOwen: Those markets and their success in acquiring higher cost–per-thousands are partially responsible. However, so too is the rating bounce the program witnessed last year.

Carr: I can't quantify how much of the pricing is part of the upfront, but the Academy Awards has always been huge. It always had a pretty high unit price, and it was always sold out.

Then it got expensive and people started to drop out.

It's still fairly high-rated, although ratings have come down. Now it's gotten tough for just a handful of advertisers to buy all the spots [as was the case in the past]. But the demand for the show has come back.

How much is a reflection of the generally strong scatter market?

McOwen: Partially.

Carr: It's a strong scatter market, it’s the fact that advertisers are buying live events, and that ratings have been up recently. It's all of those factors. It also depends on who's hosting, and now we've gone to 10 Best Picture nominees, so there's a better chance more people have seen some of them.

And they're still tinkering with the hosting—this year they're obviously going for youth.

Why was ABC able to reap such an increase in Oscar ad pricing after several down years for the show in terms of revenue?

McOwen: Positive rating trajectory and the reinvigorated appetite of key sponsorship categories. That, plus they are drafting off of the success of other televised “events” of late. Their--ABC’s and the Academy’s--attitude is likely one of: ask and you just might receive. Let the market play itself out.

Does the increase in pricing reflect the improving economy or an increased optimism about the awards ceremony itself?

McOwen: Both. Opening up the best-picture category to 10 nominations creates the opportunity for a more populist event. Even without an "Avatar," optimism exists that with 10 different film nominations, they’ll be something for everyone. We’ll see. 

Carr: Amazingly the Academy Awards are still considered the major awards show. There had been people dropping out because of the high cost, but now with the improving economy people seem to be coming back in.

Which categories tend to advertise most heavily on the Oscars and why?

McOwen: It has long been referred to as the Super Bowl for women. Therefore, any business that looks to “impress” women will want to be seen in the company of the telecast.

Carr: In my career it was always GM, Kodak, Coca-Cola, Revlon and a hair product. They were always the big ones. But that's spread out now; there are no giant sponsors anymore. They sell lots of single units. Soft drinks are always big. Coca-Cola is still pretty big. They have that movie connection.

Hyundai has been huge; they spent $11 million each of the past couple years. J.C. Penney is very big in the show, along with credit card companies. McDonald's is a big spender. There's Sprint, and movie studios, of course.

Do you expect to see many new advertisers this year? Why/why not?

McOwen: Should no exclusive be in place, I would say automotives. They dominated Super Bowl activity, plus the tone of most campaigns translates well to the glamour of the Oscars.

Carr: Well, I'm sure what ABC will generally try to do is get renewals of the big sponsors. I'm sure Coca-Cola, auto and someone like a J.C. Penney will come back. And they obviously like to sell to bigger sponsors, then it looks less cluttered. But at $1.8 million a spot, not everyone can afford it. They just seem to sell more single units and smaller commitments than they have in the past.

Unless they're having real problems, people make commitments in shows like this for a reason. They know it's a big audience, and it's an engaged audience.

Do you see many advertisers coming back that had sat out the past few years? Why or why not?

Carr: Well, it depends. Usually the major categories are exclusive like soft drinks, fast food and autos. If GM dropped out two years ago and Hyundai is exclusive, they'll keep it if they want to remain the exclusive advertiser in that category.

Coca-Cola I'm sure will be back because it's such a natural association. But it depends on the category, and it depends on the avails. They'll always go back to the advertisers from last year and say, "Hey, do you still want to be in?"

So it's conceivable. MasterCard was in in '09, they weren't in in '10, but last year American Express was in--they were in both years. So maybe a credit card could come back in.

I don't know who's in this year. But when the economy is good people want to be in the Academy Awards. It's high-rated and gets plenty of buzz; the one complaint some people have is it runs too long, but that won't change.