It is Tuesday, December 30th.

As you can tell from the viral videos featuring actors chatting together at a roundtable,

award season has officially begun.

It's that time of year when it seems like everyone in Hollywood, even the stars of a few box office duds,

is vying for an Oscar.

But in advance of their nominations announcement, which I'm sure Lucas and I will sleep through, Hollywood's biggest night recently dropped some news that's rattled the industry. Turns out that YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, will be the new home of the Oscars beginning in 2029, ending ABC's decades-long run as the award show's rights holder. While some were shocked by the news, to me, it was a no-brainer. Ratings for the telecast peaked in 1998,

thanks to the success of Titanic, and have been dropping ever since. Just 10 million people

watched those first COVID Oscars, remember the ones in that sad little room, and even the

Barbenheimer phenomenon couldn't bring viewership to its pre-pandemic numbers. And the Oscars

are an expensive show. The open bar tab alone must be through the roof.

So why would ABC spend a reported $100 million a year for the rights to an event that most people under 40 can't even figure out how to watch,

when YouTube has more money than God and is literally the most watched streamer in the entire world?

But they just made another considerably less covered acquisition that's left me scratching my

head. On Sunday, it was reported that the Who Me Awards, that's Who, comma, me, will be a YouTube

exclusive starting with this year's ceremony. For those of you who only listen to the town,

the show is apparently an annual recap of major moments in Wholeberti, whatever that means,

released by the mildly successful

independent podcast, Who, question mark, weekly, hosted by Bobby Finger and Lindsay Weber, who

described themselves as, quote, veteran journalists. I'd personally call them veteran bloggers,

but that's besides the point. YouTube hasn't disclosed the amount they paid for the awards,

which are audio only, fake, and unattended by anyone but the two hosts in question,

but I've heard rumors that the number is somewhere between 50 and 100. Not million, not

...