In the latest move to resuscitate viewing figures, several pre-filmed awards will be edited into the live Oscar broadcast.
Last year’s Oscars telecast earned the lowest-ever ratings score in the history of the ceremony, sparking fresh fears for the future of the awards as a mainstream cultural event. As such, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that the Academy have chosen to omit several awards from this year’s live show, instead reverting to a format that it trialed a couple of years ago where several awards will be filmed before the live broadcast then edited into the live show in a condensed form.
Following last year’s continued slump, there are already concerns that this year’s ceremony will see an even greater downward trend in viewership. This year, the Academy has largely voted in favour of films like Coda, which whilst terrific, have not been seen by the bulk of wider mainstream audiences. This in turn is stoking the worry that this year’s event will see a further nosedive in interest.
The awards that have been cut from the live show are: documentary short, film editing, makeup/hairstyling, original score, production design, animated short, live action short and sound.
Editing. The irony.
Whilst the move is said to have caused some rumblings of discontent within the Academy itself, it remains to be seen whether it will have any impact on declining viewing figures. Our guess is that the show will still struggle to arrest that downward turn, which looks set to continue. In the meantime, the Oscars will continue to struggle with its own identity crisis of desiring huge audience numbers and being a pop-culture mainstay, whilst rightfully seeking to recognise cinema that is often on the fringes of mainstream tastes and interests.
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