Yahoo Finance’s Alexandra Canal details the ratings bump this year’s Academy Awards show experiences, highlighting the Will Smith-Chris Rock altercation, historic wins like Apple TV+ original film “Coda” winning Best Picture, and where streaming services fit into the film studio landscape.
Video Transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING]
– Will next year’s Oscars in memoriam remember Will Smith’s acting career after the slap heard around the world to the face of Chris Rock after he didn’t like a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith. Let’s bring in Ali Canal with a look at the controversy where it stands today and if this led to an Oscars bump in ratings. Hi there, Ali.
ALEXANDRA CANAL: Hi, Dave. Yeah. Let’s talk about the ratings, first, because Twitter has a lot to say about this Will Smith-Chris Rock moment and whether or not it did lead to a ratings bump. When it comes to the results from last night, ratings actually bounced back from those record lows that we saw last year.
According to early preliminary data from Nielsen, 15.36 million people tuned in to watch the award show. That’s a pretty sizable increase compared to last year’s 10.4 million, although this is still the second-worst show on record in terms of viewership. Overall ratings have been on a steady decline, especially over the past five years.
The Oscars, they’ve been trying to stay relevant. They’ve been trying to streamline the broadcast. That’s why we saw that controversial decision to eliminate eight categories from the live telecast and edit them in later.
And that’s also why, as I mentioned, Twitter is all-in on the conspiracy theory that Will Smith, Chris Rock, as you said, that slapped her around the world was staged, was a ploy for the award show to get more viewers. I don’t think that was the case. The Academy has released several statements on the matter, saying that they don’t condone violence. They have also launched a formal review on the situation and will weigh any potential consequences.
Several sources that were inside the Dolby Theater at the time said that the producers, they really prided themselves on having this be an organized show, a very efficient show. And when this moment happened, it sort of threw everything into chaos. I think it was pretty clear that the vibe just completely shifted.
And I think that’s a shame, because we did have some historic moments. Apple TV+, the first streaming giant to win Best Picture for “CODA”. Even Will Smith, during his acceptance speech, during his win, it was all overshadowed by this moment.
And we know that the Oscars had struggled with diversity. The OscarsSoWhite Controversy was not that long ago. And here we had a Black man in the industry, someone who’s been working for a long time, win this award. And yet, everyone just has to keep talking about this moment, and no one’s talking about some of the historic wins that happened.
So it’s going to be interesting to see if anything comes from this, from that formal review from the Academy. Ultimately, I don’t think they’re going to take his Oscar away but you never know. I don’t think this has ever happened before. It’s definitely a top-10 live TV moment, for sure.
– And the film itself. I just watched that on the flight home yesterday, “King Richard”, and how amazing the performance was as well that actually won him that award. And so thinking further to see about what that particular investigation entails, it’ll be interesting to see what comes forward from that, Ali. Also, let’s dive deeper into the Apple TV bets pick with the win “CODA”, and then what that means as they continue to battle some of the other streaming giants out there, too.
ALEXANDRA CANAL: Yeah. I’m proud of my baby, Apple TV+. I mean, this streamer has come a long way. It’s relatively new, came into the scene in 2019. They spend roughly $7 billion on content annually.
And although that might seem like a lot, if we compare it to Netflix, Netflix spends more than $17 billion in content. They have hardcore campaigned for Oscars. They have A-list stars, A-list directors, in a bid really to get recognition from the Academy. And here we have little Apple TV+ just coming out of the woodwork here with “CODA”. And it’s incredibly impressive. They spent $25 million for the distribution rights for this film, reportedly spent $10 million on its awards campaign that certainly seemed to pay off.
If we take a look at total studio wins, although Apple TV+ did take home that top honor, Warner Brothers, a more traditional studio, did walk away with the most wins, seven in total, led by “Dune”, “King Richard”, with that Best Actor win for Will Smith. Disney came in second with six total wins, helped by Searchlight Pictures, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”. Apple TV+ winning all three awards for “CODA” that they were nominated for.
And then there’s Netflix. Only one win despite being the most-nominated studio heading into the Oscars. That win went to Jane Campion for “The Power of the Dog.” And this is something that Netflix has struggled with. They seem to always be the bridesmaid, never the bride. A lot of nominations doesn’t normally translate to a lot of wins for them, at least historically speaking.
So I’m curious if that’ll change up their strategy. Perhaps they won’t pour as much money into content since that doesn’t seem to be getting them the recognition that they want. Conversely, maybe Apple TV+ will put more money into the content side of their business since they can clearly keep up with the big dogs. Also curious how this will affect subscriber numbers. So all something to watch as we continue to track the streaming wars.
– All right Netflix continuing to try to be the season’s gem if you will, out there. Yahoo Finance’s own entertainment reporter, Ali Canal. Thank you so much, Ali, for the breakdown on all the streaming fronts and the big awards that were yesterday.
Add Comment