By Dawn Chmielewski

(Reuters – Apple (NASDAQ:) TV+ made history on Sunday as the first streaming service to win a best picture Oscar for “CODA,” a heartwarming drama about the daughter of deaf parents who pursues her passion for music.

After its 2021 debut at Sundance Film Festival in 2021, the streaming company purchased CODA for record $25M. It has gained momentum all through the awards season and won top honors at the Producers Guild Awards, Screen Actor Guild Awards and Writers Guild Awards.

Netflix (NASDAQ) was fiercely competing with “CODA”, a critically acclaimed western called “The Power of the Dog,” that received twelve nominations. Jane Campion (director of the film) was awarded an Academy Award.

The best picture Oscar signals how far the industry has come since 2017, when the Cannes film festival prohibited movies that were not released on the big screen from competing for its most prestigious prize, the Palme d’Or. This was an intentional snub at streaming services such as Netflix.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences temporarily changed its Oscar eligibility rules in response to the worldwide pandemic that forced theatres to close in 2020. It also modified the requirements for a film to screen in theaters for at least seven consecutive days to be eligible. It was an important moment in streaming for films that are available online.

Apple TV+ also celebrated the best-picture Oscar, which was launched in November 2019. It only had a handful original series and no TV program library.

Apple TV+ made a big breakthrough with its comedy “Ted Lasso,” a fish-out of-water comedy about an American soccer coach, which won the Emmy Award in Outstanding Comedy Series.

Daniel Ives from Wedbush Securities wrote that if Apple won the CODA coveted best photo award, it would encourage more A+ talent to come to Apple (or the top bracket),” and increase subscriptions.