Paramount buys Oscar broadcast ad for The Soloist

Paramount Pictures have become the first studio to take advantage of the lifting of restrictions preventing movie ads during the broadcast of the Oscars ceremony. The studio has bought a spot within the telecast for its upcoming drama The Soloist, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx.

The story identifies one reason why ABC has still found so few willing buyers among studios: The broadcast is typically a big hit among women and there aren’t that many movies that are going to appeal to that demographic on the upcoming release schedule.

The fact that The Soloist will get a commercial is funny in at least one way: The movie had been pegged as a potential Oscar nominee in 2008 before Paramount moved it to an April, 2009 release.