Predictable Oscars, Struggling Viewership

It doesn't surprise me that people don't care for awards ceremonies. The numbers for the Oscars go up one year and then down the next year. There's never a yearly increase. With this year's numbers, it's reached a huge low, hitting below 24 million. I don't think there's one specific reason being the culprit behind why they don't watch it. It's more a combo of various things.

1. Predictability. If you know one or two movies will sweep the ceremony, what's the point? This year, it belonged to the war drama 1917 and the foreign hit, Parasite. So many movies were snubbed this year, you have to wonder if viewers felt more than frustrated that a movie such as Ford v. Ferrari or even Frozen II getting the cold shoulder. The problem also is where the smaller indie films that win come in different reactions and may turn on or off a viewer. There's never a good situation and never a good balance.

2. Agendas. Now these days, it seems like an airing of grievances. When you look at politics and other situations, something like the Oscars becomes a soap opera. You know there will be some shots at Trump and other politicians. You know there will be talks about climate, diets, and everything in between. The point of watching awards shows is for awards and honoring your crew, not telling people your ideals. If they wanted to do that, do that in an interview or via a YouTube channel if they created one.

3. Broken Viewership. This can happen to any awards show, but maybe that's the case for the Oscars this year. You got the basketball well underway. Streaming keeps getting bigger and bigger with more apps, more content. Anything your heart desires. You're not forced into seeing the awards, something that has been the case for roughly 30 plus years. Plus, if the movies don't make the splash that year, it may feel like a lost cause.

So far for 2020, we've seen a few big hits and some obvious misses. You would have to hope that the spring season will get cracking on the films, big and small, to impact the decisions to win awards. Maybe there will be a surprise come the end of the year. It only takes a couple surprises to get the viewership back up for an award.