Oscars Won't Televise Multiple Academy Award Winners Live During This Year's Show
The Academy and ABC have spent the last few years on a quest to try and bring higher ratings back to the Oscars. While the mission hasn't exactly been successful yet, changes keep coming to the Oscars, though not the ones the industry or its fans are actually asking for. There are no stunt or casting categories this year, as many have campaigned for for years. Instead, ABC and the Academy are putting a few awards on the back burner, taping their wins ahead of the telecast and rolling the victory speeches in later to try and save time.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, eight total awards will take place an hour before the actual Oscars ceremony inside the Dolby Theater. In an effort to appeal to a more "mainstream" audience, the Academy telecast is hoping to focus only on the most popular awards during the live show. The awards for documentary short, editing, makeup and hairstyling, original score, production design, animated short, live-action short, and sound will all be presented before this year's Oscars celebration even begins.
The Academy tried a similar model for certain awards back in 2018 but quickly changed its mind after industry backlash. It will be interesting to see if this time the idea sticks around for a while, or if it will endure another swift backpedal.
Viewership for the Oscars has been on a steady decline over the last few years, with the 2021 show marking the awards show's lowest-rated telecast. Owning the rights to broadcast the event through 2028, ABC clearly wants to find a way to bring those ratings back up.
The relegation of some awards to a pre-taped event isn't the only change being made to the 2022 Academy Awards. The Academy put out a call for fans online to vote for their favorite movie of the entire year using a hashtag, with the winner of this fan vote being acknowledged during the event. Amazon's critically reviled Cinderella remake is reportedly leading the vote. That's likely not what the organization had in mind when it announced the contest.
One the positive side of things, this year's show won't be without a host. Regina Hall, Wanda Sykes, and Amy Schumer will be splitting the hosting duties this time around.
The 94th Oscars will air on ABC on March 27th.