The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) is responsible for the annual Academy Awards popularly known as the Oscars. The Oscars are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the industry across the globe. Despite this, the award ceremony continues to lose viewership. The 93rd Academy Awards held last year, at 10.4 million, recorded the lowest viewership recorded by Nielsen since it started recording audience totals in 1974.
The Academy has, in their defence, taken efforts to introduce changes to the ceremony to attract more viewership. That they don’t seem to have worked is a different story. In fact, there is a pattern emerging where the Academy announces a change, rolls it back only to re-introduce that change, in a marginally different form, later.
In 2018, a plan to give out four awards – cinematography, editing, live-action short and makeup and hairstyling – during commercial breaks was announced. This resulted in a protest from a group of cinematographers and filmmakers following which the Academy reversed the decision. However, it unveiled last week a plan where 8 categories of the awards will not be presented live for the 2022 ceremony. These will be handed out before the telecast begins with clips of presentations and speeches edited into the broadcast. As expected, the reaction to this decision has not been positive. Creating a class system where a few categories of awards are recognized as superior to others is surely going to result in opposition from the film industry. However, this move will shorten the ceremony and keep the runtime limited. This will address the ‘too long’ complaints from viewers.
Similarly, the Academy had contemplated introducing a “Popular Film” category in 2018. This decision was rolled back a month later as journalists and academy members registered their protests. But for the 2022 ceremony, it has announced a similar award to be presented at the 94th Academy Awards. In this category, fans will be able to vote for their favourite films on Twitter or via the Oscars Fan Favourite Website. This was introduced so that popular films such as Spider-Man No Way Home, which was otherwise snubbed by the Academy members, can be honoured at the ceremony increasing the show’s appeal. However, not only has the reaction from Academy members been adverse, but also the entire process of voting via twitter can be easily influenced. If a less popular movie which has not done well at the box office received the most votes, it will put the Academy in a difficult position. Reports did indicate that early trends showed Amazon’s Cinderella, starring Camilla Cabello, led the polls so far. The movie wasn’t well received.
Another instance of changing decisions is regarding the host for the ceremony. In 2019, when Kevin Hart withdrew as host to the ceremony, the Academy decided to not have a designated host. The show went well with even an uptick in viewership over 2018. They decided to continue without a host for the next two years as well. But this period also saw viewership drop to its lowest ever. Thus, the Academy has now announced not one but three designated hosts for the show – Wanda Sykes, Regina Hall and Amy Schumer are to host 2022 Oscars as show’s first emcees in 4 years.
Frequent large-scale changes to the ceremony clearly show that the Academy is not getting it right the first time. Only time will tell whether these initiatives result in higher viewership for the 2022 ceremony. Until then, we hope the Academy is not committing suicide out of fear of death.
The Oscars are scheduled to be held on March 27th 2022.
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