The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today it will double the number of best picture nominees to 10.

Though this is a throwback to the 1940s, when the Academy often nominated ten films, this isn't at all about history and sentimentality. It's all about revenues and driving eyeballs to watch the event. Over the past few years ratings for the big event have dropped, which means less ad revenue for ABC [DIS Loading... () ], which broadcasts the event, and lower broadcast fees for the Academy. The goal here is to get a bigger, broader moviegoing audience interested in the event by including films they've seen.

It's no small event: Disney has brought in as much as $90 million or so from the event, charging about $1.8 million per 30 second spot in years past. But last year some spots were estimated to sell for as little as $1.4 million. ABC has reason to worry: there's the fact that General Motors [GMGMQ Loading... () ] has been a longtime sponsor and overall ad rates are declining as companies pull back their spend. The event is still a rare opportunity to reach a high-end mostly female audience, but people have to care not just about the starlets in designer gowns, but also about the movies.

The problem? The Oscars have been dominated by small indie films, which haven't had a huge audience at the box office, which means they aren't as appealing when it comes time for the red carpet. It's no coincidence that 1998 when Titanic -- the biggest movie of all time-- won best picture, was the year the Oscars had the highest ratings ever.

Last year four out of the five nominees were from studio specialty divisions, which focus on "indie" style films. The list included "The Reader," about the Holocaust, "Milk," about a assassinated gay rights advocate, and Frost/Nixon, about a political interview. Interesting films, and I saw them all, but not exactly huge blockbusters. Hollywood and surely ABC, was disappointed that Warner Bros. [TWX Loading... () ] "Dark Knight" and Disney's [DIS Loading... () ] "Wall-E," which were both critically acclaimed and commercially popular, weren't included in the list. If there were 10 films nominated those two likely would have made the list. The real question seems to be whether movies can both satisfy mass audiences and the couple thousand Academy members who tend to have more esoteric tastes.

Now the studios are making fewer films each year, so for the sake of the Academy Awards, I hope some of them appeal to both audiences.

Hollywood On CNBC.com

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