US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has selected March 5 as the date for the 78th Academy Awards in 2006, Academy President Frank Pierson announced Thursday.

The Academy's Board of Governors decided that the 2006 Oscar show will fall a week later in the calendar than in 2004 and 2005,before returning to late February in 2007.

The step back into March in 2006 was designed as a one-year expedient to avoid a conflict with the closing ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics scheduled to fall on the Academy's natural date of Sunday, February 26.

"It didn't seem fair to make viewers have to choose between these two special events," Pierson said.

At the same time, Pierson emphasized that the Academy is very pleased with what had originally been characterized as a two-year experiment in moving the Awards presentations almost a month earlier than in the past.

The 2006 and 2007 broadcasts, as well as 2005's 77th Awards on Sunday, Feb. 27, will be carried, as they have for the most recent30 years, live by ABC.