The Academy Awards have caught some flack from the press in years past for lack of diversity. Photo / Getty
The Academy Awards have caught some flack from the press in years past for lack of diversity. Photo / Getty
To combat slumping ratings, the Oscars are radically slimming down, with eight awards to be presented off-air during next month's telecast of the 94th Academy Awards.
In a letter to members of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, the group's president, David Rubin, said that the awards for film editing, production design, sound, makeup and hairstyling, music (original score) and the three short film awards (documentary, live-action and animated) will be presented before the March 27 live broadcast begins on ABC.
Instead of starting the ceremony and broadcast all at once, the Dolby Theatre ceremony will begin an hour before the telecast. The presentation and speeches of those early eight winners will be edited and featured during the three-hour live broadcast, which Rubin emphasised would still provide each winner with their "Oscar moment".
Rubin said the changes were necessary for the future health of the Academy Awards.
"When deciding how to produce the Oscars, we recognise it's a live event television show and we must prioritise the television audience to increase viewer engagement and keep the show vital, kinetic and relevant," wrote Rubin. "This has been an important focus of discussion for quite some time. We do this while also remembering the importance of having our nominees relish a once-in-a-lifetime experience."
The possibility of pulling some of the Oscars' 23 categories from the broadcast has long been a matter of debate. In 2019, the academy initially sought to air four categories — cinematography, editing, makeup and hairstyling, and live-action short — in a shortened, taped segment. But after a backlash, the academy reversed itself days before the show.
But ratings have continued to fall. Last year's broadcast, severely altered by Covid-19, plummeted to an all-time low of 9.85 million viewers. In 2018, 29.6 million watched. Pressure has mounted not only with the Oscars' longtime broadcast partner, ABC, but within the academy to innovate a cultural institution that has long resisted change.
This year, after several host-less Oscars, producers are turning to the trio of Amy Schumer, Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes to emcee. The show, produced by Will Packer, will also recognise the favourite movie as voted on by fans on Twitter.
This combination of photos shows Regina Hall, from left, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes, who are in final talks to host the 94th Academy Awards. Photo / AP
In remaking the Oscars to be less of a march through awards, the Academy Awards will become a little more like the Tonys and the Grammys, which have similarly shrunk the number of awards handed out during telecasts. That hasn't stopped a ratings slide for either, though. The Tonys and the Grammys notched new viewership lows last year. Some have argued that no tinkering can stem the tide against any network television broadcast in a more diffuse, streaming media world.
Rubin pledged the revamped broadcast will be "tighter and more electric" because of the category shifts but also promised one eyebrow-raising tweak from last year's ceremony won't return: The show will again end with the award for best picture.
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