Looks as if the 2014 Winter Olympics could nudge the Oscars into March Madness. Since the Olympics in Sochi, Russia next year run from Friday, February 7 through Sunday, Feb 23rd, Oscars’ comfortable Sunday slot would clash with the Olympics closing night ceremony. It’s unlikely if not impossible for the entire awards season to shift everything 2 weeks earlier, so the next available Sunday open for Oscar Night would be March 2, 2014. The LATimes says conflicts are already causing a crunch for the SAG Awards.
“We programmed the SAG Awards on Saturday, Jan. 18 due to the Winter Olympics and NFL schedules, which are contributing to a shortened 2014 award season,” said a spokesperson for TNT/TBS, which broadcasts the awards show. The 2014 Super Bowl is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 2.
The question now is whether the SAG move will have a ripple effect on the Golden Globes and Oscars. The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. has yet to announce its 2014 date for the Golden Globes, but that ceremony historically takes place before the SAG Awards.
The Academy moved the Oscar telecast from March to late February in 2004, but every four years the Olympics get in the way. In 2010, the Oscars aired March 7.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hasn’t announced a 2014 date, either. T
