The upcoming season of the Emmy Award-winning reality series, The Traitors, will have a decidedly Philly flair when it debuts next month.
In a trailer released this week by Peacock, Donna Kelce and Johnny Weir were revealed to be among the 23 contestants vying for up to $250,000 in prize money.
Kelce, the mother of former Eagles standout Jason Kelce and mother-in-law to local super-podcaster Kylie Kelce, has been a Philly fixture for years.
Weir, a former Olympic figure skater and skating commentator, is a Coatesville native.
The show pits Kelce and Weir against a cast that also includes comedian Michael Rapaport, former Bachelor Colton Underwood, and Olympic figure skater Tara Lipinski — as well as a slew of reality show alums.
If you’re new to The Traitor, it’s a reality show set in a Scottish castle that features heavy doses of deception and deceit. Billed as a kind of murder mystery, it follows a group of protagonists — called “faithfuls” — who compete for prize money while simultaneously attempting to suss out the secret “traitors” among them, who are also vying for the cash.
The U.S. series, hosted by Alan Cumming, is set to kick off its fourth season.
It’s been an eventful past two years for Donna Kelce, who earned roles in a pair of Christmas movies, Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story and the Philly-based Christmas on Call, both last year. She is also set to become the mother-in-law to arguably the world’s most prominent musician when her son, Travis Kelce, marries Taylor Swift. The couple became engaged in August.
Season 4 of “The Traitors” debuts with the first three episodes on Jan. 8 on Peacock. Two more episodes will be available on Jan. 15, followed by single weekly releases through Feb. 26.
Pierre Robert’s unexpected death in October sent Philadelphia rock fans into a state of shock.
How could the community of WMMR-FM (93.3) listeners carry on without the kind-hearted DJ? He was an unfailingly reliable source of good cheer and boundless musical enthusiasm on the airwaves, and at concerts and charity events across the region for over 40 years.
On Wednesday night at the Fillmore in Fishtown, a sold-out crowd of 3,000 “good citizens” — as Robert called his fellow Philadelphians — struggled through their grief in a combination concert and wake that was billed as “Pierre Robert: A Show of Life.”
Collectively, the friends of Robert who performed and spoke on stage at the event came up with a mutually agreed upon strategy: Life without Pierre Robert would be tolerable for the MMR family only if it essentially remained a life with Pierre Robert. That is, if through music and his memory, his spirit can be kept alive.
The memorial concert raised money for Manna, the Philly nonprofit that feeds people with life-threatening illnesses, that was a favorite among many worthy causes Robert supported.
The evening began with Robert’s family gathering on stage, with niece Nicole Horder and nephew Brett Robert addressing the crowd while a portrait of their uncle and his tie-dyed lab coat were on display to their right.
Ed Roland of Collective Soul performs during the “Pierre Robert: A Show of Life” concert on Dec. 17, 2025 at the Fillmore in Philadelphia.
It ended five hours later, with Philly songwriter Ben Arnold leading a chorus of close to 40 musicians, friends, and family members on a singalong version of “Get Together,” the 1967 Youngbloods hit and countercultural anthem that fit the long-haired, bearded, and peace-sign-flashing Robert to a T.
In between, there were spirited, heartfelt, and sometimes tearful performances by David Uosikkinen’s In the Pocket, Marc LaBelle of Dirty Honey, and Ed Roland of Collective Soul, plus stripped-down duo sets by members of Philly hard rock band Halestorm and Jacksonville, Fla.’s Shinedown. And of course, there was Robert’s favorite Philly band, the Hooters.
Robert grew up in California, and his passion for the city he relocated to in the early 1980s and came to call home, was noted throughout the evening.
“If you tried to make a list of someone who would never make it in Philadelphia,” his nephew said at the start, “it would be a crazy hippie from California that’s a vegetarian, and ‘it’s all about peace and love man.’
Lzzy Hale of Halestorm performs during the Pierre Robert Show of Life concert Wednesday, December 17, 2025 at The Fillmore in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by William Thomas Cain/CAIN IMAGES for WMMR)
“But the thing about Philly is, Philly loves people who are unapologetically themselves. And he never forgot for a second that he got to live the life of his dreams because you guys tuned in and listened and showed up for him.”
That theme of Robert being an outsider who chose to become a Philadelphian was cleverly echoed by Adam Weiner of Low Cut Connie.
Weiner’s song selection was “Young Americans,” which was recorded at Sigma Sound Studio a half-century ago by David Bowie, “another great artist who fell in love with Philadelphia,” he said.
Uosikkinen was the hard-working hero of the night, keeping the beat both with In the Pocket and later the Hooters, while just five weeks out of knee replacement surgery.
The ITP set of local luminaries, who set a high bar for the rest of the evening, began with Steve Butler and Richard Bush singing the Kinks’ “Sunny Afternoon” (a Robert favorite). It also included Cliff Hillis doing Todd Rundgren’s “I Saw the Light,” Arnold taking on Robert Hazard’s “Change Reaction,” and three-song sets by Tommy Conwell and Bob “Beru” McCafferty.
During one interlude, Philadelphia Councilmember Rue Landau came on stage to pay tribute to Robert, who was honored last week by a resolution introduced by Councilmember Mark Squilla that renames Latimer Street between 12th and Camac Streets as “Pierre Robert Way.”
Nicole Horder, niece of Pierre Robert and Ed Roland of Collective Soul dances during the Hooters performance during the “Pierre Robert: A Show of Life” concert on Dec. 17, 2025 at the Fillmore in Philadelphia.
Matt Cord, who has taken over the MMR midday time slot, introduced bands and was one of many who joked about Robert’s habitual lateness.
Robert’s fellow DJ and mentee Jackie Bam Bam aptly called his late friend “the Santa Claus of Philadelphia, the Mister Rogers of Philadelphia on the radio.”
After Dirty Honey’s LaBelle revved up the crowd with satisfyingly shrieking covers of Led Zeppelin and AC/DC, the lengthy show settled in to a strummy hard-rock acoustic duo midsection.
Ed Roland of Georgia band Collective Soul played, accompanied by producer Shawn Grove, a Philly area-native and Pierre-ophile. Before getting to the band’s signature 1993 hit “Shine,” Roland thanked the Eagles for drafting several Georgia Bulldogs defensive players, then was taken by surprise by a raucous “E-A-G-L-E-S” chant.
“I love you already, and now I love you even more,” he told the crowd.
Halestorm is the band led by singer Lzzy Hale and guitarist Joe Hottinger that hails from Red Lion in York County. Hale is a full-throated rock star, and ripped it up on “I Miss the Misery” and “Love Bites (So Do I).” She dedicated a forthright piano ballad, “How Will You Remember Me?” to Robert.
Brent Smith and Zach Myers of Shinedown followed and had the room singing with hits like “A Symptom of Being Human” and “Three Six Five.”
“There will never be another human on this earth who loves music more than that guy,” Myers said of Robert. Thanks to Robert, “Philly feels like a second home to us,” he said.
The quality of material was elevated considerably with Myers’ cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark.”
The soul of the evening, however, belonged to the Hooters. The band was introduced twice. First by Robert’s longtime MMR colleague John DeBella, who noted that the Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman-fronted Philly band was Robert’s favorite, along with the Rolling Stones.
(Curiously, none of the acts covered a Stones song, or anything by the Grateful Dead, who Robert also dearly loved.)
The second time, the Hooters were intro’d by Robert himself, who referred to the band as “joy generators” in a recording from one of the band’s annual shows at the Keswick Theatre, the last of which he attended just days before his death.
Brent Smith and Zach Meyers of Shinedown perform during the Pierre Robert Show of Life concert Wednesday, December 17, 2025 at The Fillmore in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by William Thomas Cain/CAIN IMAGES for WMMR)
The band kept it bright, opening with the carpe diem optimism of “I’m Alive” and the hopeful “Silver Lining,” looking for a light even when “in your deepest shade of black.”
“This is a joyous occasion,” Bazilian said. “But it’s life, and it’s one that was so well-lived. And that we all got to share.”
The sextet named after a melodica — the instrument which Hyman and guitarist John Lilly played simultaneously at one point — made sure to include Robert’s picks, such as “Boys Will Be Boys.”
And the city that Robert came to love was celebrated in its closing song “Beat Up Guitar,” with a lyric that could have been voiced by its departed friend.
“I may leave this place tomorrow, but my soul is here to stay,” Hyman and Bazilian sang, “In the town that rocked the nation — Philadelphia, Pa.”
All performers throughout the evening sing “Get Together” as the final song during the “Pierre Robert: AShow of Life” concert on Dec. 17, 2025 at the Fillmore in Philadelphia.
Craig Kellem, 82, of Philadelphia, former talent agent, celebrated TV producer, show developer, writer, longtime script consultant, author, and “comedic genius,” died Monday, Nov. 24, of complications from dementia at Saunders House assisted living in Wynnewood.
Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Kellem moved to New York as a teenager and, at 22, burst onto the entertainment scene in 1965 as a talent scout and agent for what was then called Creative Management Associates. He rose to vice president of the company’s TV Department and, over the next 30 years, served as director of development for late night, syndication, and daytime TV at 20th Century Fox Television, vice president of comedy development at Universal Television, and executive vice president of the Arthur Co. at Universal Studios.
He worked with fellow TV producer Lorne Michaels at Above Average Productions in the 1970s and was a popular associate producer for the first season of Saturday Night Live in 1975 and ’76. He was quoted in several books about that chaotic first season, and his death was noted in the show’s closing credits on Dec. 6.
At Universal Studios, he created and produced FBI: The Untold Stories in 1991.At Universal Television in the 1980s, he developed nearly a dozen shows that aired, including Charles in Charge andDomestic Lifein 1984. In 1980, he developed Roadshow for 20th Century Fox Television.
Mr. Kellem worked for years in New York and Los Angeles.
“He had a lot of energy and ideas,” said his wife, Vivienne. “He had a creative spirit.”
His producing, creating, developing, and writing credits on IMDb.com also include The Munsters Today, The New Adam-12, Dragnet, and What a Dummy. He produced TV films and specials, and worked on productions with Eric Idle, Gladys Knight, Sammy Davis Jr., and the Beach Boys.
“He loved working with writers,” his daughter said. “He was super creative. It was part of his essence.”
Mr. Kellem enjoyed time with his daughter Joelle (left) and his wife Vivienne.
As an agent in the 1960s and ’70s, Mr. Kellem represented George Carlin, Lily Tomlin, and other entertainers. His eye for talent, dramatic timing, and sense of humor were legendary.
“My dad’s humor opened hearts, tore down walls, and allowed people to connect with each other’s humanity, vulnerability, and spirit,” said his daughter Joelle. His daughter Judy said: “He was a comedic genius.”
His wife said: “He was a fascinating, funny, loving, and sensitive man.”
Craig Charles Kellem was born Jan. 24, 1943. He grew up with a brother and two sisters in West Mount Airy, played with pals in nearby Carpenter’s Woods, and bought candy in the corner store at Carpenter Lane and Greene Street.
Mr. Kellem and his son, Sean.
“Craig was like a father to me,” said his brother, Jim. “He helped guide my children and was always there for the whole family.”
He graduated from high school in New York and moved up to senior positions at Creative Management Associates after starting in the mailroom. He married in his 20s and had a daughter, Judy.
After a divorce, he met Vivienne Cohen in London in 1977, and they married in 1980, and had a son, Sean, and a daughter, Joelle. He and his wife lived in California, Washington, New Hampshire, and New Jersey before moving to Fairmount in 2017.
Mr. Kellem enjoyed movies, walking, and daily workouts at the gym. He volunteered at shelters, helped underserved teens, and routinely carried dog treats in his car in case he encountered a stray in need. “That’s the kind of man Craig was,“ his wife said.
Mr. Kellem and his daughter Judy operated their own writing consultation business together for years.
His son, Sean, said: “My dad’s personality was big, and he was deeply compassionate toward other human beings.” His daughter Joelle said: “He was an open, sensitive, warm, and passionate human being who believed deeply in the work of bettering oneself and taking care of others.”
His daughter Judy said: “They don’t make people like my dad.”
In addition to his wife, children, and brother, Mr. Kellem is survived by four grandchildren and other relatives. Two sisters died earlier.
Christmas Day is Thursday this year, and with it comes a wave of closures across the Philadelphia region. If you’re planning last-minute errands or outings, knowing what’s open, and what’s not, will save you time and frustration.
Trash and recycling collection will be impacted, with pickups running one day behind schedule all week.
From city services and grocery stores to pharmacies and big-box retailers, here’s your guide to navigating holiday hours in Philadelphia.
City government offices
❌ City of Philadelphia government offices will be closed Dec. 25.
Free Library of Philadelphia
❌ The Free Library will be closed Dec. 25.
Food sites
✅ / ❌ Holidays may impact hours of operation. Visit phila.gov/food to view specific site schedules and call ahead before visiting.
Trash collection
❌ No trash and recycling collections on Christmas Day. Collections will be picked up one day behind the regular schedule all week. To find your trash and recycling collection day, go to phila.gov.
❌ UPS, FedEx, and DHL will be closed Christmas Day. There will be no delivery or pickup services either, except for critical services.
Banks
❌ Most, if not all, banks including TD Bank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Chase Bank, and PNC Bank will be closed on Christmas Day.
Pharmacies
CVS
✅ CVS locations will operate on modified business hours for Christmas Day with most open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Call ahead to your local store before visiting or view hours at cvs.com/store-locator/landing.
Walgreens
✅ Walgreens locations will be open but hours have not been announced — check your local store at walgreens.com/storelocator.
There are few facades more iconic in Bryn Mawr than the marquee of the Bryn Mawr Film Institute (BMFI), an enduring Main Line institution and watering hole for cinephiles from across the region.
BMFI has turned 20, marking two decades of the nonprofit community theater founded by Juliet Goodfriend in 2005. In the early 2000s, Goodfriend found herself dismayed when a historic movie theater in neighboring Ardmore was converted into a short-lived gym. To protect Bryn Mawr’s historic Seville Theatre from the same fate, Goodfriend rallied a team of local stakeholders around the theater. In December 2004, BMFI purchased the Seville, and in March 2005, the film institute opened its doors. Today, BMFI screens new and historic films, hosts lectures, teaches courses for children and adults, and celebrates the art of the film.
“It means a lot … to see what this place has become through the generous support and engagement of the community,” said Andrew J. Douglas, deputy director of the film institute who has worked at BMFI since it first opened.
To celebrate BMFI’s 20th anniversary, its staff compiled a list of 20 of the most iconic films the theater has screened, from Philly-based flicks to beloved musicals:
‘Blue Velvet’
If there’s an iconic filmmaker with a Philadelphia connection, it’s the late David Lynch, said Jacob Mazer, BMFI’s director of programs and education.
Blue Velvet is Lynch’s 1986 mystery thriller. It follows college student Jeffrey Beaumont after he discovers a severed ear in a vacant lot in his suburban hometown and is drawn into a dark world of crime.
“When we look at this arc of [Lynch’s] career, it’s really the film where he finds his way,” Mazer said.
Lynch began his filmmaking career in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and regularly discussed basing his landmark debut Eraserhead on the city in the 1970s. When Lynch returned to Philly for a retrospective of his work at PAFA in 2014, he visited BMFI for a screening of his films and a Q&A session with the audience. Blue Velvet was the first film BMFI played to commemorate Lynch after his death in January.
‘The Philadelphia Story’
There’s a lot of local love for The Philadelphia Story, George Cukor’s 1940 romantic comedy set on the Main Line and based on the life of socialite Helen Hope Montgomery Scott, said Gina Izzo, BMFI’s communications director.
Plus, Izzo added, “It’s funny. It holds up.”
‘Lawrence of Arabia’
The annual summer screening of David Lean’s 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia is the oldest-running BMFI tradition. It’s a movie that is just “not done justice on a small screen,” said Mazer.
‘The Sound of Music’
Each December, lovers of The Sound of Music descend on BMFI for what Izzo describes as an “interactive screening” of the 1965 musical directed by Robert Wise. Over the course of three hours and many songs, The Sound of Music tells the World War II-era story of Maria (Julie Andrews), a young woman who becomes a governess for the von Trapps, an aristocratic Austrian family.
At the annual Christmastime screening at BMFI, moviegoers sing along from their seats and, each year, wear increasingly elaborate costumes. Last year, there were nuns, goats, and “brown paper packages tied up with strings” (a la the song “My Favorite Things”). The showings sell out months in advance.
As Izzo put it, “It’s sort of our Rocky Horror Picture Show equivalent.”
‘Harold and Maude’
Hal Ashby’s Harold and Maude has been a mainstay at the Seville Theatre since it was released in 1971. It was the last movie shown on the Seville’s single screen before the theater was twinned (split into two screening rooms) in the 1980s.
“Harold and Maude just comes back again and again and again” in the theater’s history, said Mazer. “It’s one of the quintessential cult movies.”
A view from one of the projection booths inside the Bryn Mawr Film Institute in Bryn Mawr on March 8, 2018.
‘Casablanca’
Michael Curtiz’s 1942 romantic-drama Casablanca is “one of the great examples of the difference [between] seeing a movie in a theater with other people versus by yourself at home,” said Douglas.
BMFI screens Casablanca every summer, and Douglas teaches an annual lecture on the film. When he watches Casablanca at BMFI, Douglas says he regularly hears people sniffling at sad moments or guffawing at funny ones, a stark comparison to the muted reactions one often has from the comfort of their own couch.
“You’re reminded how funny it is, you’re reminded how moving it is, and you’re reminded, in a sense, how human it is,” he said.
‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’
Why include Wes Anderson’s 2014 film The Grand Budapest Hotel? Put simply, people just love Wes Anderson, Izzo said.
‘2001: A Space Odyssey’
Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey was the first film shown at the theater after it developed the capacity to screen 70 mm film. Mazer called the 1968 movie an “iconic film” in cinematic history.
‘Silver Linings Playbook’
In a way, Silver Linings Playbook is a “modern-day Philadelphia Story,” said Douglas. The 2012 film, directed by David O. Russell, follows Pat Solitano Jr. (Bradley Cooper), recently released from a psychiatric hospital who works to win back his estranged wife, and Tiffany Maxwell (Jennifer Lawrence), a young widow also struggling with mental illness, as she prepares for an upcoming dance competition.
Philadelphia’s favorite rom-com is an homage to Delco, Eagles fans, and the Montgomery County-born-and-raised Cooper. It’s a “local guy makes good” story, Douglas said, referring to Cooper. It’s also the highest grossing main attraction in BMFI history.
“For our community, it was an enormously meaningful movie‚” Douglas said.
‘La La Land’
Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, known as Pasek and Paul, are a composing and songwriting duo responsible for the lyrics in La La Land, the acclaimed 2016 musical directed by Damien Chazelle.
Pasek is “Bryn Mawr’s son,” Izzo said. The composer graduated from Friends Central, the Wynnewood Quaker school, and is a longtime supporter of BMFI. When Pasek and Paul won an Oscar for the movie, everybody at home “had a little piece,” said Izzo.
‘Barbie’
Greta Gerwig’s 2023 Barbie felt like the “big wave back after the pandemic,” Izzo said. People dressed in pink and flocked to the movies after months of isolation and uncertainty.
Parasite, Bong Joon Ho’s 2019 South Korean Oscar winner, was the third-longest running main attraction in BMFI history with a 16-week run.
“We were proud to show that one,” Izzo said. “It was very popular here.”
‘Rocky’
Rocky, the 1976 film directed by John G. Avildsen about boxer Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), may seem like an obvious addition to any Philly-area iconic movies list. But the local history behind the movie is deeper than meets the eye, Mazer said.
Rocky was one of the first to be filmed with the Steadicam, a revolutionary invention of Garrett Brown, a Haverford High School graduate and prolific Philadelphia inventor. The Steadicam, created by Brown in 1975, is a camera stabilizing device that revolutionized the movie industry, allowing filmmakers to shoot scenes without having to mount cameras onto cranes or dollies.
In testing out his new invention, Brown shot various scenes around Philadelphia, including one of his future wife running up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum. That scene would later become an iconic motif of Rocky, shot by Brown.
“It’s this place where film history and Philadelphia history really connect,” Mazer said.
Brown is a friend of BMFI and has given numerous lectures at the theater, including for the 40th anniversary of Rocky.
‘Superman’
James Gunn’s 2025 Superman is another story of a local hero. David Cornswet, who played Superman, was raised in Lower Merion and graduated from the Shipley School, a Bryn Mawr private school. Cornswet hosted a friends and family debut of Superman at BMFI.
‘Brooklyn’
Brooklyn, John Crowley’s 2015 period drama, stars Saoirse Ronan as Ellis Lace, a young Irish immigrant to New York City. The movie was immensely popular at BMFI, said Izzo.
‘On the Waterfront’
Elia Kazan’s 1954 crime drama On the Waterfront helped revolutionize BMFI’s educational programming. The film was the first of the theater’s one-night seminars, during which moviegoers listen to a short lecture, sit for a screening, and then stay for a discussion. Now, they’re a popular part of the theater’s educational menu.
‘RBG’
RBG, Julie Cohen and Betsy West’s 2018 documentary about late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, was the highest-grossing documentary screening in BMFI history. It’s also in the top 20 of the highest-grossing screenings in the theater’s history (including movies and documentaries).
National Theatre Live: ‘The Audience’
Though movies are at the core of BMFI’s work, the theater has expanded its repertoire to include cinematic presentations of ballet, theater, opera, and behind-the-scenes tours of art museums, all filmed and fit for the movie screen. BMFI’s most popular alternative program to date was a screening of The Audience, a 2013 play starring Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II. BMFI sold out 13 showings of the show.
Izzo and Douglas said the screenings help transport locals to places that can be difficult to get to — New York City’s Broadway, London’s West End, or European museums.
“Even at current prices, it’s still a tremendous bargain for access to the arts,” said Douglas.
‘Metropolitan’
To commemorate the 30th anniversary of Whit Stillman’s 1990 movie Metropolitan, the director visited BMFI in 2022 for a screening of the film and Q&A with the audience. Metropolitan follows the Sally Fowler Rat Pack, a group of young Manhattan socialites in the throes of debutante season.
Stillman’s visit to BMFI “was the beginning of a really nice friendship,” Mazer said.
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Another book by South Philly author Liz Moore is heading to the small screen.
Netflix announced it has ordered a series adaptation of The God of the Woods, a multigenerational mystery drama set in the Adirondacks.
Moore will serve as a co-showrunner, writer, and executive producer, Netflix said. It marks the author’s second book that has been adapted for TV.
The 2024 novel is about a teenage girl who disappears from her summer camp in 1975 and how the investigation uncovers years of family secrets and mysteries.
Earlier this year, Moore’s best-selling Long Bright River, which focuses on Kensington’s opioid crisis, was turned into a series for Peacock. That crime thriller premiered in March.
The author, who lives in South Philly, earned local credibility for her efforts to depict Kensington honestly in her book and with producers for the Peacock series. She said at the time her aim was to make something that countered misguided depictions of the neighborhood.
Moore teaches at Temple’s College of Liberal Arts and is the director of the school’s creative writing MFA program.
The God of the Woods is Moore’s fifth novel. It collected several accolades, including multiple Book Club shortlists and a spot on Barack Obama’s Summer Reading List.
No additional details have been publicized about the Netflix series’ cast or release date.
In a seismic shift for one of television’s marquee events, the Academy Awards will depart ABC and begin streaming on YouTube beginning in 2029, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Wednesday.
ABC will continue to broadcast the annual ceremony through 2028. That year will mark the 100th Oscars.
But starting in 2029, YouTube will retain global rights to streaming the Oscars through 2033. YouTube will effectively be the home to all things Oscars, including red-carpet coverage, the Governors Awards, and the Oscar nominations announcement.
“We are thrilled to enter into a multifaceted global partnership with YouTube to be the future home of the Oscars and our year-round Academy programming,” said academy chief executive Bill Kramer and academy president Lynette Howell Taylor. “The Academy is an international organization, and this partnership will allow us to expand access to the work of the Academy to the largest worldwide audience possible — which will be beneficial for our Academy members and the film community.”
While major award shows have added streaming partnerships, the YouTube deal marks the first of the big four — the Oscars, Grammys, Emmys, and Tonys — to completely jettison broadcast television. It puts one of the most watched non-NFL broadcasts in the hands of Google. YouTube boasts some 2 billion viewers.
The Academy Awards will stream for free worldwide on YouTube, in addition to YouTube TV subscribers. It will be available with audio tracks in many languages, in addition to closed captioning.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
“The Oscars are one of our essential cultural institutions, honoring excellence in storytelling and artistry,” said Neal Mohan, chief executive of YouTube. “Partnering with the academy to bring this celebration of art and entertainment to viewers all over the world will inspire a new generation of creativity and film lovers while staying true to the Oscars’ storied legacy.”
The Walt Disney Co.-owned ABC has been the broadcast home to the Oscars for almost its entire history. NBC first televised the Oscars in 1953, but ABC picked up the rights in 1961. Aside from a period between 1971 and 1975, when NBC again aired the show, the Oscars have been on ABC.
“ABC has been the proud home to The Oscars for more than half a century,” the network said in a statement. ”We look forward to the next three telecasts, including the show’s centennial celebration in 2028, and wish the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences continued success.”
The 2025 Academy Awards were watched by 19.7 million viewers on ABC, a slight increase from the year before. That remains one of the biggest TV broadcasts of the year, though less than half of Oscar ratings at their peak. In 1999, more than 55 million watched James Cameron’s Titanic win best picture.
The film academy, in choosing YouTube over other options such as Netflix or NBC Universal/Peacock, selected a platform with a wide-ranging and massive audience but one without as much of an established production infrastructure.
Still, more people — especially young people — watch YouTube than any other streaming platform. According to Nielsen, YouTube accounted for 12.9% of all television and streaming content consumed in November. Netflix ranked second with an 8.3% market share.
Maya Nazareth was 17, living in Malaysia, when she started training in Brazilian jiujitsu and discovered the discomfort and limitations of women’s fightwear.
She kept adjusting her sports bra, fixing her rash guard and pants while trying to focus on the martial art that demands immense discipline and control. Nazareth, who struggled with body image issues, said the feeling of discomfort and frustration affected how she moved in the gym and in the world.
Back in the U.S, as a “naive” college student with $2,000 to her name, she dreamed of building Alchemize Fightwear, an apparel brand to empower women fighters across the world.
She founded the brand in 2020. Five years later, she won $300,000 on ABC’s Shark Tank, backed by Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, Lori Greiner, and Kendra Scott in exchange for a 15% stake.
Maya Nazareth at the Vault Jiu Jitsu, Morton, PA., is the founder and CEO of Alchemize Fightwear, Friday, December 5, 2025.
“I was having my chest exposed, my stomach exposed, and my pants fell during training,” she said. “That’s a huge barrier for women to train in these sports, especially in front of 50-plus men in a training room. I just thought I could create something better.”
Nazareth, who grew up in Malaysia and all over New Jersey, realized that she shared her reality with many women in male-dominated gyms and martial arts academies, who are often led to quit before they experience the confidence and power martial arts brought to Nazareth.
“Jiujitsu transformed me into someone who felt strong, powerful, and confident, but the gear I was training in didn’t make me feel that way,” she said.
While studying international business at the University of Delaware, Nazareth placed her first purchase order of rash guards from a manufacturer, trying them out herself and putting them to test.
Her college apartment was Alchemize’s first headquarters, and her car was amobile sales office.
She started by surveying 1,500 fighters, from amateur athletes to professional competitors, asking them what elements would make their apparel more comfortable and functional for their specific disciplines.
At left is Ashley Razzano with Genisis Medina-Arce in embroidered Gi’s by Alchemize Fightwear. They are shown at the Vault Jiu Jitsu, Morton, PA, Friday, December 5, 2025.
Nazareth reshaped necklines in the tops, removed center seams from the bottoms, inserted silicone waistbands, and built in sports bras for added support and comfort.
What she offered was both stylish and functional for women fighters in jiujitsu, wrestling, and later boxing, Muay Thai, and other disciplines. They were all “customer-centric designs,” she said, that made for a more fluid and functional fit for martial arts practitioners. She even tapped MMA fighter Michelle Waterson to design a collection of her own.
“It’s nothing revolutionary,” Nazareth, 27, said, “but it’s really just thinking about the customer first and what they need from their fight wear.”
When she formed the brand in 2020, she built a company for every woman, in and outside the gym.
“Moms are fighters. People going through medical diagnosis are fighters. People trying to push through in their careers are fighters. And I think fighting is just a natural human movement that we all innately know how to do, want to do, and need training around,” Nazareth said.
“I really love that we have created an avenue for more women to step into that. I think it’s really powerful to say, ‘Hey, it’s safe to show up and express yourself in this way.’”
Ashley Razzano with embroidered gi from Alchemize Fightwear, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025.
Under the Alchemize brand, Nazareth hosts free self-defense classes for survivors of domestic and sexual assault. She also organizes grappling camps in gyms and martial arts academies throughout the region to increase accessibility for women athletes.
“I’m personally passionate about what fight sports can offer survivors of assault and of domestic violence,” Nazareth said. “Just being able to make fight sports accessible to the everyday woman who may think, ‘I’m not a fighter,’ or who doesn’t see themselves rolling on the mat with a bunch of sweaty men. I think that’s something I’m really proud of and something I would like to continue doing.”
Maya Nazareth at the Vault Jiu Jitsu, Morton, PA. She is the founder and CEO of Alchemize Fightwear, Friday, December 5, 2025.
Her work and advocacy haven’t gone unnoticed. In December 2024, the Fairmount resident was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for groundbreaking work in women’s sportswear and retail.
Less than a year later, she was pitching on Shark Tank.
She received an email from the Shark Tank production team in March 2025 and immediately questioned its legitimacy.
“I try not to overcommit to an opportunity before it happens,” Nazareth said.
Despite her initial suspicion, she filled out the application and took the phone screening. Two months later, she flew out to California to compete on the show.
”You never know if you’re going to actually air on the show or what’s going to happen,“ she said. ”But I started my business for the love of the sport and because I wanted to do something cool for women’s jiujitsu. So, every single opportunity that comes up, I try to do my best. It was really exciting.”
As she practiced her script, Nazareth took a moment to reflect on her journey. “I kept saying to myself, this is not the time to play small,” she said. “This is the time to be courageous.”
When she walked out to present, Nazareth said she “blacked out.” But her proposal sparked immediate interest from Ohanian.
She started out seeking a $250,000 investment in exchange for a 5% stake in Alchemize, and ended with $300,000 and a shared deal with Ohanian, Greiner, and Scott.
“It was really emotional and really, really cool,” she said.
In the months since the episode’s airing Oct. 22, Nazareth said the company has seen increased sales and a growing list of new customers. Having weathered the chaos of Black Friday, she looks forward to the slower Christmas season before things pick back up at the top of the year.
Genesis Medina-Arce wears an embroidered gi from Alchemize Fightwear, Friday, December 5, 2025.
She’s excited about the new developments at Alchemize. In 2026, Nazareth and her business partner, Suzette “Suliy” Melendez, will launch the flagship Alchemize Fightwear Athlete Program.
The online program will support athletes as they scale their current and future businesses in and outside of combat sports. Melendez said the move aligns with Nazareth’s mission to empower women in sports and business.
“We want to give other women opportunities outside of jiujitsu and give them a platform to scale,” Melendez said. “Being able to have shoulders to lean on, on the mats or off the mats, helps create community with our events.”
Nazareth also plans to expand Alchemize’s sports camps, making it the “South by Southwest” of women’s combat.
Through all these ventures, the goal remains the same, she says: creating pathways for women to enter martial arts and encouraging them to “own their inner ferocity.”
AUSTIN, Texas — Joe Ely, 78, the influential Texas-born singer-songwriter whose blend of honky-tonk, rock, and roadhouse blues made him a favorite among other musicians and led to collaborations with Bruce Springsteen and the Clash, has died.
Mr. Ely died in Taos, N.M., of complications from Lewy body dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and pneumonia, with his wife and daughter by his side, according to a post on his Facebook account Monday night and later confirmed by his representatives.
Mr. Ely was considered a key figure in the progressive country music movement as a founder of the influential country-rock band the Flatlanders with Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, and later as a solo artist.
“Joe Ely performed American roots music with the fervor of a true believer who knew music could transport souls,” said Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
“But his true measure came through in the dynamic intensity of his powerhouse live performances, where he could stand his ground aside fellow zealots Bruce Springsteen, who recorded duets with Ely, and the [Rolling] Stones and the Clash, who took Ely on tour as an opening act,” Young said.
After signing with MCA, Mr. Ely released his first solo album in 1977. He would release more than 20 albums over his career, including Love and Freedom earlier this year.
Born in Amarillo, Texas, Mr. Ely stayed connected to his Texas roots through decades of recording and performing that lacked a mainstream breakthrough but made him a favorite of other artists.
“Every time I start a new album I head up to West Texas and drive around, you know, drive on those old cotton roads and in the wide-open spaces, and every once in a while I’ll come across a place where I’ve spent some time,” Mr. Ely told Texas Monthly in 2011.
It was a soundcheck for a show in London that led to the collaboration with British punk band the Clash. Mr. Ely would later open for the Clash at several shows and sang backup vocals for their hit song “Should I Stay or Should I Go?”
Steven Spielberg wanted New Jersey drivers this year — now they’ll get to see the fruits of their labor on the big screen.
The first trailer for Disclosure Day, the lauded filmmaker’s new UFO movie starring Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, and West Philly’s own Colman Domingo, is out. The production was filmed in parts of South Jersey and Middlesex County earlier this year.
The premise: “If you found out we weren’t alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you? This summer, the truth belongs to seven billion people. We are coming close to … Disclosure Day.”
The trailer shows Blunt as a meteorologist who shudders as she experiences some sort of encounter live on air. It includes all the other good stuff: crop circles, deer who are absolutely shook by whatever extraterrestrial activity they’re dealing with, car chases, you know the deal.
“They tell me the movie is primarily about UFOs and some railroad scenes and car chases,” Woodbine Mayor William Pikolycky told 6abc during filming this spring.
The film worked under the code name Non-Viewwhile filming around Jersey. The original Spielberg sci-fi film has a screenplay penned by his longtime collaborator David Koepp (Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds).
Disclosure Day was spotted filming scenes in multiple locations, including Tuckahoe, Woodbine, Buena Vista, and Upper Township. Some scenes took place near railroad tracks in Tuckahoe, with state troopers shutting down roads near production sites at the time. Spielberg was also spotted directing a scene with stunt doubles. Locals observed production crews setting up with a large blue screen, likely for special effects work.
Producers sought locals to work as paid extras, working as background actors in their own cars in Middlesex County in March. The production brought a reported economic boost to the area, with over 150 crew members in town, some who visited local businesses. The New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission told 6abc at the time that major film productions are increasingly choosing the state as a location, citing its diverse scenery and financial incentives.
Just last month, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced HBO’s Task was awarded a $49.8 million tax credit for filming locally.
Universal will release Disclosure Day on June 12. It’ll mark Spielberg’s 37th directed film.
