The 84^th Annual Academy Awards® ceremony will be broadcast live and in stunning high definition on Sunday 26 February by Sky Movies HD, as the UK’s exclusive broadcaster of the event for the eighth consecutive year.

Sky Movies presenter and film critic Alex Zane will anchor the UK’s Oscars® coverage, with a pre-ceremony show featuring all of the arrivals, interviews and excitement from the red carpet simulcast on Sky Living/HD and Sky Movies Premiere/HD before the 84th Annual Academy Awards® ceremony live exclusively on Sky Movies Premiere/HD.
 
Alex will be joined in Sky’s London studio by a panel of celebrity guests and experts who will share their predictions and reactions to the winners, frocks and shocks as the most talked-about evening in the film calendar unfolds.
 
Televised live from the Kodak Theatre in LA, this year’s ceremony will be hosted by Billy Crystal; marking the star’s ninth time as host, while Oscar®-winning composer Hans Zimmer will join forces with Grammy® Award-winner Pharrell Williams to serve as the show’s music consultants.
 
Ian Lewis, Director of Sky Movies, comments: “The Academy Awards® ceremony is a moment of real significance for the entertainment community and film fans alike. We’re delighted that Sky Movies HD will be broadcasting this event live and exclusively in the UK for the eighth year running, giving our customers a front row seat at Hollywood’s most glamorous awards ceremony.”
 
In addition, this February Sky Movies will be showing back-to-back Oscar® winning films to celebrate the 84^th Annual Academy Awards® including the top five winners from last year. The season will include Black Swan (Natalie Portman – Best Actress), The King’s Speech (Colin Firth – Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Picture, Tom Hooper – Best Director), The Social Network (Adapted Screenplay – Aaron Sorkin) and The Fighter, which won for Supporting Actor (Christian Bale) and Actress (Melissa Leo).
 
The Oscars® Red Carpet coverage will air from 1130-0130 simulcast on Sky Movies Premiere/HD and Living HD and the awards ceremony on will on air on Sky Movies Premiere/HD only from 0130 until 0400.
 
For more information visit: www.skymovies.com or www.sky.com

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT

Victoria Fairclough - PR Manager - Sky Movies, Sky Movies
T: 020 7032 0676
E: victoria.fairclough@bskyb.com

Megan MacLeod - Publicist, Sky Movies HD, Sky Atlantic HD
T:
E: megan.macleod@bskyb.com

NOTES TO EDITOR

About Sky Movies

Sky Movies is Europe's largest in-home movie service providing a fantastic range of movies to its customers. The service provides viewers with over 450 different films a week including 5 premieres every Friday - more than a year before they appear on terrestrial TV.

Offering a choice of recent and quality titles, from cult indie cinema to the biggest blockbusters and 550 titles in HD every month, Sky Movies gives customers flexibility over what they watch, when and how – whether on TV, on PC or mobile.

As part of your subscription, Sky Movies is available on demand via Sky Anytime+ which gives customers access to hundreds of additional movies via a broadband connection directly to an enabled Sky+HD box. Sky Movies can also be watched on the move on your laptop, iPad or phone with Sky Go. A host of benefits are available to Sky Movies customers including free tickets to preview screenings across the UK.

For more information visit www.skymovies.com or www.sky.com

For regular updates check out Sky Movies on Facebook (www.facebook.com/skymovies) and on Twitter (@skymovies_com)

About the Academy Awards

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre, Los Angeles. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide, licensed by Disney Media Distribution.