Weeks after Oscars 2022 nominations were announced, it has been revealed that the 94th Academy Award show will not be presenting awards of a few major categories on-air. The Academy Awards recognises 23 categories in total, however this year, it will only be presenting awards in 15 categories on-air. According to a recent report by Variety, to bring back its television ratings, winners of eight Academy Awards categories will not be presented on-air during this year’s broadcast. The report mentioned that the recent development comes as an effort to present a more streamlined and television-friendly broadcast.
The eight categories that will be awarded off-air include Documentary Short, Film Editing, Hair and Makeup, Original Score, Production Design, Animated Short, Live Action Short and Sound. The international publication also reported that the ceremony will start one hour before the on-camera live show begins in order to accommodate the changes. The upcoming Award show will also reportedly feature clips of the speeches by the winners in the eight off-air awarded categories that will be blended into the live televised broadcast.
The recent changes to the Academy Award live show come after last year’s ceremony was the least-watched in the history of the Oscars. The show was conducted under strict COVID-19 prevention protocols and managed to receive 9.23 million viewers. According to Variety, this was a 51% drop from the 18.69 million viewers who tuned in to watch the Oscars in 2020.
Academy President David Rubin penned a letter addressing its members that read, “We realise these kinds of changes can prompt concern about equity, and we ask you to understand our goal has been to find a balance in which nominees, winners, members, and viewing audience all have a rewarding show experience.”
Film critics and cinema lovers have expressed their displeasure towards this latest move. Columnist Jamelle Bouie tweeted: “I’m probably in the minority on this but I actually would prefer the Oscars to be way more industry-focused. I am interested to know what academy voters thought was the best score, or the best production design, or the best hair and makeup.” Pop culture critic, Isaac Feldberg tweeted, “Any awards ceremony that can’t find time to present categories this integral to filmmaking cannot seriously claim to honor the craft of cinema.”
What are your thoughts on this recent development?
