NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The Academy Awards show is more than a star-studded celebration for the film industry -- it's a huge profit driver for both the show and the network that airs it.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a not-for-profit organization that supports film preservation and the development of talent, uses the show as its primary source of funds.

Last year's show had revenue of $44.4 million, up 6 percent from the year earlier. Virtually all the revenue comes from the television rights deal with ABC.

The profits for the Academy from the show increased even more, up nearly 15 percent to $29.2 million, due to a 6 percent drop in the expense of staging the event.

Nothing else in the Academy's budget even comes close as a source of funds. Membership dues only bring in $1.5 million. Investment income during the fiscal year ending June 30 was a healthy $6.9 million, a nice rebound from the $1.8 million loss in the previous fiscal year.

The 3,300 tickets for the show are not a significant source of funds. They are mostly given to nominees, presenters and other guests of the academy. The movie studios also buy blocks of seats and a very small number -- less than a few hundred -- are sold to members of the academy who win a lottery for the remaining seats.

The Academy takes steps to make sure that the tickets are not scalped. Each ticket has the name of the guest appearing on it, and a sampling of attendees are asked to produce identification as they enter the theater.

The Academy's two major ventures are the Fairbanks Center, a library holding paper artifacts from the film industry history, and the Pickford Center film archive, which holds cannisters of films in climate controlled conditions for preservation reasons.

The operation of the two centers accounts for $7.5 million during the last fiscal year, along with $3.4 million in interest payments on $35 million in bonds it recently issued for the purchase and renovation of a new home for the Pickford Center.

Education and cultural programs, along with grants contributions and awards cost another $2.9 million. Those programs include $30,000 fellowships for a year for five writers whose work has yet to be made into a movie. It also gave $250,000 to support film festivals and $405,000 for film schools.

General administrative expenses for the Academy came to $9.7 million, mostly covering office space and the staff of 160. The 42 members of the board of governors are unpaid. The only other major expense for the Academy is the publication of the Players Directory, a listing of actors and actresses used by agents and casting directors. The directory cost the Academy $1.5 million in the last fiscal year after the sales revenue.

"Almost nothing we do makes a profit except for the awards show," said Academy spokesman John Pavlik.

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The show is also a nice profit driver for ABC as well, which has the U.S. rights for the show through 2008 and international rights through 2010. ABC gets a show for which it can charge $1.5 million for a 30-second spot, about two-thirds what CBS was able to charge for a spot on this year's Super Bowl, for a fraction of the rights deal. With about 50 spots on the show, that comes to roughly $75 milllion in revenue. The relatively low rights deal makes the broadcast one of the more profitable for any network during the year.