CNN
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As unusual because it sounds, the upcoming Oscars can be taught quite a bit from what turned out to be the lowest-rated Emmys ever.
Given the obsession with recovering, or no less than stemming the decline, of award-show rankings after they cratered during the pandemic, that may appear counterintuitive. However the Emmy telecast received a number of key issues proper, whereas working into what amounted to an ideal storm by way of miserable its viewership.
Particularly, the four-month delay prompted by the writers and actors strikes positioned the telecast on Fox, on a Monday evening, reverse an NFL playoff sport that crushed it greater than soccer usually does. Throw in consideration dedicated to the Iowa caucuses and the actual fact the Emmys adopted the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards – which honored lots of the similar folks – by a matter of days, and the rankings drop (to 4.3 million viewers, down roughly 25% from 2022) was simply predictable.
The Academy Awards, which can announce nominations on January 23 and air on March 10 with host Jimmy Kimmel, received’t face these specific headwinds. But they do come into 2024 tormented by questions in regards to the present and extra broadly the movie business, and maybe most particularly whether or not voters will search to assist themselves ratings-wise with the films they select to appoint.
On the plus facet, members of the Academy of Movement Image Arts and Sciences have two full-fledged hits, “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” to think about, with the latter having emerged because the season’s clear frontrunner. There are additionally an assortment of stars and components, from Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Simply Ken” and Billie Eilish’s “Barbie” tune to Olivia Rodrigo’s musical contribution to the most recent “The Starvation Video games” film, providing the chance to punctuate the present with materials that would enchantment to totally different and wider demographic segments.
Whereas nonetheless low in comparison with its heyday, last year’s Oscars improved over 2022, to 18.7 million viewers on ABC, based on Nielsen knowledge. Given the regular decline of linear tv, any achieve is defying gravity and trigger for celebration in TV circles.
Regardless of that, calculated makes an attempt to jump-start the rankings may not matter a lot. Nowadays, youthful audiences don’t have the identical award-viewing habits and appear content material to catch clips of highlights versus sitting via a three-hour-plus presentation.
Oscar rankings additionally might take a success this 12 months as a result of resolution to move the start time up an hour, to 7 p.m. ET. Whereas that gives one benefit – East Coast viewers received’t have to remain up till nicely previous 11 p.m. – the tradeoff might will seemingly be sacrificing West Coast tune-in for a present that begins there lengthy earlier than the solar goes down.
So what lesson can the Emmys convey? Principally, if chasing harder-to-get viewers has a slim probability of shifting the rankings needle, don’t waste vitality making an attempt to second-guess what is going to, and concentrate on placing on a superb present.
Additionally, the Emmys moved at a surprisingly brisk tempo, a lot so the producers truly wanted to fill time close to the tip. Dashing up the Oscars within the early going would ship comparable advantages, permitting the highest-profile recipients and movies extra latitude as a substitute of speeding down the stretch.
Lastly, tailor the present to individuals who need to look at it. Honoring the business’s historical past, one thing the seventy fifth Emmys did via collection reunions sprinkled all through the evening, appeals to them, which doesn’t imply diminishing its current. Granted, reassembling the “Cheers” gang received’t herald a youthful demo, but it surely properly served these inclined to point out up.
As famous, this 12 months’s Oscars have already got one benefit in that they’ll legitimately nominate a number of motion pictures folks have seen, giving them a stronger rooting curiosity. Depend on that to ease the stress on the present itself.
Too usually, award exhibits really feel as in the event that they’re pandering to those that are detached to them. As an alternative, take a web page from the seventy fifth Emmys: Ship one thing that works for the business and its most loyal patrons, and let the Nielsen chips fall the place they might.
Nominations for the 96th Academy Awards shall be introduced January 23.