The major awards are given out at a live televised ceremony, most commonly in February or March following the relevant calendar year, and six weeks after the announcement of the nominees. This is an elaborate extravaganza, with the invited guests walking up the red carpet in the creations of the most prominent designers of the day. dress is normally required for men, although fashion may dictate not wearing a , and musical performers typically don't adhere to this (nominees for Best Original Song quite often perform those songs live at the awards ceremony, and the fact that they are performing is often used to promote the television broadcast). It is estimated that over one billion people watch the Academy Awards either live or recorded each year (Levy 2003). If this is true, few other events outside of the and draw a higher global audience. Like the , this means that the broadcast event itself draws attention, and , and the broadcast during breaks are notable in the ad industry.

The Awards show was first televised on in 1953. continued to broadcast the event until 1960 when the Network took over, televising the festivities through 1970, after which reassumed the broadcasts. once again took over broadcast duties in 1976; it has contracted to do so through the year 2014.

After more than fifty years of being held in late March or early April, the ceremonies were moved up to late February or early March starting in 2004 to help disrupt and shorten the intense lobbying and ad campaigns associated with Oscar season in the film industry. The earlier date is also to advantage of ABC, as it currently usually occurs during the highly profitable and important February period. The Awards show holds the distinction of having won the most in history, with 38 wins and 167 nominations.

The awards event itself is designated a by the .

are strictly prohibited from advertising movies during the broadcast.

Since 2002 movie stars have been seen arriving at the Academy Awards in ; during the telecast of the 79th Academy Awards in 2007, and former vice president announced that ecologically intelligent practices had been integrated into the planning and execution of the Oscar presentation and several related events.

Venues

The were presented at a banquet dinner at the in . Subsequent banquet ceremonies in the 1930s and early 40s were held in at either or the

in Hollywood then hosted the awards from 1944 to 1946, followed by the in Los Angeles from 1947 to 1948. The in 1949 were held at the "Academy Award Theater" at the Academy's then-headquarters on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood .

From 1950 to 1960, the awards were presented at Hollywood's . The Oscars then moved to the in in 1961. By 1968, the Academy decided to move the ceremonies back to Los Angeles, this time at the in the . The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion hosted 20 consecutive Oscar ceremonies until 1988, when the Academy started to alternate between the Music Center and the Shrine Auditorium.

In 2002, Hollywood's became the first permanent home of the awards. It is connected to the , which contains 640,000 square feet of space including retail, restaurants, nightclubs, other establishments and a six-screen cinema.

Criticism

The Academy Awards have also often been criticized for being overly conservative. Critics have noted that many Best Picture Academy Award winners in the past have not stood the test of time. Several of these films, such as and 's are often considered to have aged poorly and to have little of the impact they had on their initial release.

Several films that currently have wide critical approval were not named Best Picture; the most obvious example is (nominated for nine Oscars but winner of only one, ) which has since come to be regarded by many as one of the . Other films that achieve critical claim and cult status are not even nominated for Best Picture.

It has been suggested that actors are at a disadvantage in , as few acting awards have been given for performances in films that could be considered primarily comedic.

It has also been suggested that actors occasionally win awards that are given more in commemoration of a career or past performances than in honor of the role for which the actor is nominated. One example is 's relatively brief appearance (about eight minutes of screen time) in , for which she won the 1999 Best Supporting Actress award, the year after she was unsuccessful in the Best Actress category for .

Studios also lobby heavily for their films to be considered, leading to the complaint that nominations and awards may be largely a result of this lobbying rather than the quality of the material. Academy members are also not required to watch all films nominated in a category (with notable exception being given to and ) before being allowed to vote, leading to voting