BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Feb. 7 (UPI) -- ABC's contract to televise the annual Oscars presentations has been extended for six more years, the network announced Monday.
In a statement issued jointly with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the network said it would televise the Academy Awards through 2014.
Academy President Frank Pierson said the organization was "delighted" to have reached the agreement with what he called the academy's "historic" broadcast partner.
"By the end of this new extension ABC will have carried 38 consecutive Oscar telecasts, and 56 of the 61 ceremonies ever televised," said Pierson.
"The Academy Awards stand as the preeminent awards show in the world," said Anne Sweeney, co-chairman of media networks and The Walt Disney Co. and president of the Disney-ABC Television Group.
The existing contract for ABC to televise the Academy Awards was to expire in 2008. International rights are governed by a separate agreement with Buena Vista International that runs through 2010.
