A very different Oscars; 'teeny tiny red carpet'; the first 90 seconds; pandemic restrictions; what will the ratings look like?

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Oliver Darcy here at 6:15pm Sunday with a pre-Oscars edition of the letter...

A very different Oscars

One thing is for certain: The Oscars broadcast is set to be anything but conventional this year. There will be no host and there will be no audience. The primary venue will be Los Angeles' Union Station, not the Dolby Theatre. And Steven Soderbergh, who is co-producing the event, has promised that the presentation "is going to feel like a film" instead of a usual awards show.

Meanwhile, lingering in the background is a gnawing question: How many people will even tune into ABC when the show gets underway at 8pm ET? As Maureen Dowd wrote in a weekend piece, "A lot of people don't even realize the show, once an edge-of-your-seat American institution, is Sunday..."

Pandemic restrictions

While it might feel as though the end of the pandemic is in sight, coronavirus restrictions are still in place for Hollywood's biggest night. As LAT's Josh Rottenberg outlined in a Sunday story, the show will be "abiding by the latest COVID safety protocols." Those protocols include limiting the Union Station audience to 170 people, having an on-site Covid safety team, establishing a hub in the UK and other satellite uplinks around the world for nominees unable to travel, and asking attendees to wear face coverings (though they won't be asked to do so while on camera).

"There is no universe in which we are going to ever put anybody at risk," Soderbergh has said. "And so we are hoping to combine safety with a show that feels like a glimpse of what is going to be possible when most people are vaccinated and, you know, rapid, accurate, cheap testing is the norm. So COVID is going to be there because it's everywhere, but we want to put it in its place and then sort of move forward."

"A teeny tiny red carpet"

While coronavirus restrictions are in place, the producers are hoping to bring back some of the glamour — to some degree — of the traditional show. That includes bringing back a red carpet. "It's not a traditional red carpet," Oscars producer Stacy Sher said recently. "It's a teeny tiny red carpet."

>> Of note: That "teeny tiny" red carpet also means a smaller media presence. Only a handful of outlets have been credentialed and they'll have to follow social-distancing protocols while conducting interviews...

The first 90 seconds

Make sure not to miss the first minute-and-a-half of the show. Soderbergh has said that in those moments the producers will showcase how this year's show will be different. "We're going to announce our intention immediately. Right out of the gate, people are going to know: 'We've got to put our seatbelt on.'"

Soderbergh has, for some time now, vowed to make the presentation feel like a film. "At the end, we hope it'll feel like you watched a movie," he told Vanity Fair. "Everybody will be a character: Every nominee, every person that gives an award, will feel like characters in a film. And in the end, you'll know who everybody was and what they wanted. You'll have a connection to everyone in this show. What we want to do is have this three-hour movie in which some awards are given out."

What does the future of The Oscar look like?

Frank Pallotta writes: "The Oscars have always been an ad for going to the movies, but as we head into Sunday's ceremony, the future of movie-awards and the awards themselves are as uncertain as they've been. Popular box-office hits have been few and far between when it comes to winning Best Picture in recent years. Now — following a year that saw streaming emerge as a lifeline for studios with no other way to distribute their movies — that seems to be even more the case. Going forward, some of the biggest winners of an awards show that celebrates going to the movies may be films that never see the inside of a theater..."

The ratings may be the worst ever

Pallotta adds: "Outside of major sporting events like the Super Bowl, the Oscars used to be one of the most watched events on the TV calendar every year. That's unlikely to be the case this year. Awards shows have been tanking in the ratings lately, and this year's crop of Oscar nominees aren't exactly super well known (I mean, theaters did close up shop last year), so a general audience may have not even heard of films like 'Mank' and 'The Father.' Not to mention, the last time the Oscars aired in 2020, it was the lowest in the show's history. So, taking all of that into account, we may be in store for historically low ratings come Monday..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE

-- CNN's team will have live-updates of the show here... (CNN)

-- Erich Schwartzel and Ray A. Smith: "How do you throw the Oscars in a train station that will continue operating during the ceremony?" (WSJ)

-- "I actually think the Oscars -- with Soderbergh, a new venue and a kind of carte blanche to experiment -- will be cool/fun tonight," WaPo's Steven Zeitchik says. "One of the main impediments to that normally is an institutional fear of deviating from tradition, and that exists in far lower quantities this year..." (Twitter)

-- "Movie stars don't exist anymore," Maureen Dowd argues in her piece. "Movies have been swallowed by TV and streaming..." (NYT)

-- "Netflix faces another year with the most Oscar nominations and the likelihood of few wins," Sarah Whitten writes... (CNBC)

-- "As the nominations for this year's Academy Awards show record-breaking diversity, it's clear that change is afoot in the film industry. But it could be the sign of progress or just a pandemic-accelerated fluke," Clarisse Loughrey writes... (Independent)

-- "'Nomadland' has done about all it can do to bolster its awards resume, with a two-in-three chance of winning the top prize, according to a mathematical model," Ben Zauzmer writes... (THR)

-- Lisa Respers France, People Magazine's Nigel Smith and Us Weekly's Emily Longeretta offer their predictions on who will take home the top prizes... (CNN)

-- "Sunday's pandemic-delayed Oscars will bring to a close the longest awards season ever — one that turned the season's industrial complex of cocktail parties and screenings virtual," Jack Coyle points out... (AP)

-- "The takeaway from the most political Oscars ever? Political movies are hard," argues Derek Robertson... (Politico)

-- Oscars fashion is going green. Chloe Melas chatted with Suzy Amis Cameron who founded the Red Carpet Green Dress initiative to encourage celebs to make environmentally conscious choices... (CNN)

-- Billy Crystal tells Melas that he hopes people not only watch but "appreciate how difficult it is to pull off a show like this..." (CNN)

Week ahead calendar

Monday: "The Lead with Jake Tapper" expands to two hours...

Tuesday afternoon: Alphabet reports earnings after the close...

Wednesday: Discovery earnings before the bell; Apple & Facebook after the close...

Wednesday: Biden delivers a primetime address to a joint session of Congress.

Wednesday: "The Handmaid's Tale" season four premieres on Hulu...

Thursday morning: Comcast reports earnings before the bell...

Friday: Two big-ticket streamers premiere: "Tom Clancy's Without Remorse" on Amazon and "The Mosquito Coast" on Apple TV...

FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO

-- Local and national news orgs have demanded the release of body cam footage in the shooting of Andrew Brown Jr. The sheriff said Saturday once he gets clearance from the judge, "hopefully Monday," he'll start the process... (Carolina Public Press)

-- On "Reliable," Errol Louis said journalists must be "immune" to believing info because it comes from "people in power." Adrienne Broaddus added that the lesson to take from George Floyd's murder is that reporters need to vet official accounts: "Question, question, question..." (CNN)

-- "I'm sick and tired, too," Fredricka Whitfield wrote. "I'm sick with worry. I'm tired because I can't sleep, worrying about my two sons and daughter -- and other sons and daughters like mine..." (CNN)

-- "Policing in America did not change because of policy and what politicians did," Sara Sidner pointed out. "Policing in America is changing because of what people with cell phones did..." (Twitter)

All eyes on India

The disastrous coronavirus situation in India is quickly becoming a top story here in the US. In fact, it was the A1 story on Sunday's edition of The New York Times. "India's coronavirus second wave is rapidly sliding into a devastating crisis, with hospitals unbearably full, oxygen supplies running low, desperate people dying in line waiting to see doctors — and mounting evidence that the actual death toll is far higher than officially reported," the lead story said...

FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE

-- "With a devastating second wave of Covid-19 sweeping across India and lifesaving supplemental oxygen in short supply, India's government on Sunday said it ordered Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to take down dozens of social media posts critical of its handling of the pandemic," Karan Deep Singh and Paul Mozur report... (NYT)

-- Over in the US: Dr. Anthony Fauci suggests that updated mask guidance is around the corner. He said on "This Week" that "it's pretty common sense now that outdoor risk is really, really quite low," adding: "I believe you're going to be hearing, what the country is going to be hearing soon is updated guidelines..." (ABC)

-- "One way in which COVID media coverage is skewed is there's tons of attention to wherever cases are rising but little to where they're declining. e.g. Cases are *plunging* in NYC right now but there's almost no stories about that after weeks of scary news about variants, etc," Nate Silver says... (Twitter)

-- Fareed Zakaria says the gov't has been too cautious: "Politicians and governments are much too worried about the chance of something bad happening on their watch, no matter how unlikely..." (Mediaite)

-- Artist Tomer Hanuka asked illustration students at the School of Visual Arts to "come up with a post-pandemic New Yorker magazine cover." The results went viral over the weekend. Below are three of the covers from Lauren V, Jane McIlvaine, and Amy Young... (Twitter)

Former alt-right YouTuber: Fix the algorithms

Former alt-right YouTuber Caolan Robertson, who was the subject of this NYT piece by Cade Metz, joined John Avlon on "Reliable" to explain the tactics he used to send content viral. "I obtained millions of views — and my boss always told me ... never let the truth get in the way of a good story," Robertson said. "And if we can get people angry, and get people upset, we can make more money and more profit."

Robertson said the YouTube algorithm pushed people toward his extremist videos and argued the platform must do more to address its recommendation engine. "This is not a free speech argument," Robertson said. "I'm not saying [right-wing personalities] should be censored and banned. ... This is about YouTube, the biggest video platform on the planet, recommending and pushing content that is extreme."

>> Of note: As mentioned in Friday's letter, the Senate is set to hold a hearing on social media algorithms Tuesday — and YouTube will participate...

FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR

-- Bo Hamby, Rachel Martin, and Steve Mullis profile a dad and daughter divided by disinfo on YouTube: "It's like an 'Invasion Of The Body Snatchers.' This person looks like my dad, but all of a sudden where this loving, kind person was there's this snarky, dismissive, mean person..." (NPR)

-- "Three Ukrainian television channels linked to an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin were blocked from broadcasting on Google's YouTube on Saturday, the Ukrainian government said, following its request to YouTube to have the channels taken down," Ilya Zhegulev reports... (Reuters)

-- Warangkana Chomchuen reports that Thai activists have "gravitated to Clubhouse after crackdown..." (VOA)

-- Dan Froomkin writes about how "major media is taking millions from Facebook — and keeping the details secret..." (Salon)

-- Donald Trump Jr. was fact-checked by Instagram for posting a fake Lebron James quote... (Mediaite)

NFL strikes deal with Clubhouse

"The NFL draft is coming to Clubhouse," Deadline's Peter White reported Sunday. "The buzzy social media audio app has teamed with the National Football League to produce a lineup of original programming around the 2021 NFL Draft. You'll be able to find out where Clemson's Trevor Lawrence or Alabama's DeVonta Smith is drafted after the NFL became the first major sports league to collaborate with Clubhouse on official programming..."

Catch up on Sunday's "Reliable"

John Avlon was in the anchor chair Sunday for the vacationing Brian Stelter. Here are a few additional highlights from the show...

>> RonNell Andersen Jones discusses how anti-media rhetoric finds its way into judicial opinions...

>> Ron Brownstein and April Ryan examine Biden's approach to the press...

>> David Zurawik and Darnella Frazier talk about how journalism played a role in the Derek Chauvin trial...

FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE

-- Chris Wallace celebrates 25 years of "Fox News Sunday" with some highlights from shows over the years... (Fox)

-- Also worth noting: Wallace continues to sanitize Fox's dominant propaganda arm by pretending they're merely doing honest opinion, like he did in a recent AdWeek interview. C'mon Chris... (AdWeek)

-- "Despite what you might have read on the Internet, your Substack newsletter won't make you a millionaire. During the blogging boom, for every Ariana Huffington, there were plenty of others who didn't waltz into the sunset. This edition of the media makeover isn't going to be any different," Om Malik writes... (OM)

-- "The technology behind the distribution of television has evolved with time, from the antenna to cable to satellite, and most recently to streaming," Alex Sherman writes. "Now, according to EW Scripps Chief Executive Officer Adam Symson, the time has arrived for the next frontier of TV viewing: The antenna..." (CNBC)

Elon Musk to host "SNL"

The May 8 episode of "SNL" could very well be the most-anticipated of the season. NBC announced over the weekend that eccentric billionaire Elon Musk will host the show, with Miley Cyrus as the musical guest. As Frank Pallotta noted in his story, "The choice of Musk is an odd one for 'SNL' since the show is not known for picking hosts from the tech or business world." The selection of Musk, who has ignited controversy for commentary on a number of issues, including the pandemic, has already resulted in some backlash...

>> Musk tweeted: "Let's find out just how live Saturday Night Live really is 😈..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART SIX

-- NYT's Michael Paulson and Cara Buckley "interviewed dozens of actors, writers, agents, producers, investors and office assistants who have worked with [Scott] Rudin, examined financial records of his stage shows and reviewed court papers from his many legal disputes." They said that 'what emerged confirmed much of what was detailed by The Hollywood Reporter..." (NYT)

-- News from the NYT piece: "Actress/singer Rita Wilson has joined the outcry against producer Scott Rudin, claiming he tried to find a way to legally fire her from a Broadway show when she was diagnosed with breast cancer..." (Deadline)

-- RIP: "Marty Bauer, co-founder of the United Talent Agency, died on Friday at his home in Los Angeles ... He was 74..." (THR)

Weekend box office: "Mortal Combat" fights to top

"Reflecting the pent-up demand to see new movies on the big screen, the weekend box office saw a spirited — and unexpected battle — between Mortal Kombat and Japanese anime pic Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train," THR's Pamela McClintock wrote Sunday. "Warner Bros.' Mortal Kombat topped the North American chart with $22.5 million from 3,073 locations, while Aniplex and Fumination's Demon Slayer followed with an estimated $19.5 million from 1,605 sites. That's by far the biggest domestic debut of all time for a foreign-language film..."

>> Related: "Warner Bros/Legendary's Godzilla Vs Kong has reached a new global benchmark, crossing $400M with a cume through Sunday of $406.6M worldwide," Deadline's Nancy Tartaglione writes. "Of that, $320M comes from the international box office in 41 markets..."

LAST BUT NOT LEAST...

Cats of the day!

Reader June Curik emails: "Frodo and Samwise are my daughter's two rescue cats. They showed up on her doorstep one freezing night in Michigan. They are brothers and do everything together like watching Reliable Sources..."