Name: Oscars 2026: Is Hollywood losing its magic? | The Global Story
Uploaded: 2026-03-13T16:52:06.000Z
Duration: 25 min 3 s
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American movies have long been America's great cultural export.

Adverbs of degree

So how did Hollywood's biggest night become so global?

On Sunday, many of the biggest movie stars in the world will walk down that iconic red carpet in Los Angeles, California, to celebrate the 98th Academy Awards.

The main contenders for the top spots at this year's Oscars are two distinctly American movies.

Me and mom, we used to run around and do some real bad the hell going on.

The story of this season is that Hollywood is back.

I think some years feel more predictable than others, but

I really think that this year there is going to be a lot of surprises.

The Oscars are increasingly nominating international films, films not made in Hollywood, not made in the English language.

So what does that mean for America's cultural influence Abroad?

From the BBC, I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, D.C. and welcome to the Global Story on YouTube.

And Tom, could I have you introduce yourself to those who may not know you?

Well, I've been a broadcast journalist with the BBC for a long time.

April will be the 50th anniversary of me joining BBC News as a trainee in London.

I was young when it all began, my journalistic career, and

I began really covering the film industry, I suppose in the early 1980s.

And I think I came to my first Oscar ceremony in 1982, which is a long time ago.

Tom, you are wearing a tux on our podcast, presumably because you're very excited to join the global story.

No, I'm wearing a tux because I'm a very pretentious British person and I feel it makes me look important.

But the real answer is I'm an on camera presenter for the BBC and we're doing this Oscars preview show.

I was up in the Hollywood Hills wearing this sitting on a rock the other day.

I just interviewed the president of the Academy on camera.

So I couldn't really go in jeans and the T shirt.

So I'm actually, you know, I like wearing a tux because I'm a bit scruffy by nature.

But the minute you put this thing on, it makes you look respectable.

Well, thank you for making that make sense.

I was saying I felt a bit underdressed, but no, it's outrageous.

Why are you not wearing this kind of tuck?

Preparations for Hollywood's biggest night of the year have been going on for days here on Hollywood Boulevard, outside, inside the Dolby Theatre, that's where the Oscars ceremony will take place.

Middle of the week, there were loads of people here, workers who are going to transform this area, it's rather ramshackle right now, into red carpet glory.

And on Sunday night, there'll be hordes of screaming fans and some of the biggest names in the world of cinema present.

Okay, well, we're going to talk about the Oscars, but

I would love to just get a sense from you of what you recall from your first year covering the Oscars.

And I think when you're young, the images that you've grown up with in terms of movies are larger than life, you know.

So there were figures, I think, at that first Oscar ceremony, like Elizabeth Taylor and Bette Davis, Kirk Douglas, all these characters.

And they had a kind of power in a way that I find movie stars nowadays don't have.

Maybe it's because I'm older and a bit blase because I've met a load of them.

But there was something very magical about it.

You know, I was just like a kid from North London.

I was working with Barry Norman, who was a very well established television critic for the BBC.

And my job on Oscars night then in the early 1980s was to go to the Governor's Ball, which is where all the winners and presenters would go after the Oscar ceremony.

And Barry was a real gentleman, but he was rather shy.

And it was my job to yell at all these people to get them to come over and talk to Barry.

I was on my knees the whole time in my DJ my tuxedo yelling, elizabeth, come and talk to Barry.

Elizabeth Taylor came over and that is how you got your start in covering so many Oscars.

Well, Tom, we are speaking to you while you are in California to cover this Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony.

Can you just give us a sort of brief pict of what you see as being the top line story of this Oscars season?

Well, I think you have to look at the Oscars in the context of the real world.

And I think there's a big disconnect this Year.

The Oscars ostensibly honors excellence in filmmaking.

It's also a gigantic public relations exercise for Hollywood.

But right now, locally in Los Angeles, the film industry is in dire straits.

People are anxious about what AI may bring.

Will it bring them the promised land or will it destroy their careers?

Cinema going has still not returned to pre Covid levels.

And then in the wider world, we have this huge conflict in the Middle east.

And so this Oscar ceremony is taking place within that.

And I only hope that there is some brilliant cinema being recognized.

I just hope it doesn't end up being a, you know, a hollow Hollywood spectacle.

I've been wondering a lot how culturally resonant the Oscars are, because I saw that in.

At its peak in 1998, 55 million people tuned in and watched Titanic win best picture that year.

You look at the statistics, the viewership has, you know, completely declined since then.

You're looking at what, 18 million people last year?

Well, I think why this has happened in a way, is that film is less central to the culture than it used to be.

I remember the first Godfather movie coming out.

Consequently, the Oscars was showcasing films that were really part of the planet's everyday chit chat in a way.

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Oscars 2026: Is Hollywood losing its magic? | The Global Story

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