What does the future of the Oscars look like?

There’s been a lot of Oscars buzz this year, not about who won, but about the show itself. Coverage of the event itself seems to be largely negative, with the shows viewership dropping to a four-year low. 

I’m here to argue that that number doesn’t matter, because what was up for the Oscars this year was social media engagement, something I’d argue is more important than live viewership. 

For weeks after the event, clips circle on social media of red carpet looks, celebrity’s surprised reactions to a win, and teary-eyed acceptance speeches. 

What’s important to remember is that, at its core, the Oscars is a marketing event. It reintroduces the movies of the past year to the public, and creates an incentive for audiences to pay to watch them again. So whether you sit and watch the awards live, or only view clips on instagram, the format that you take it in doesn’t matter as long as the message reaches you: This movie is good and you should pay to see it. And despite the drop in live viewership, this method still works. A group of men in the backroom at work gossiped about Timothee Chalamet’s Marty Supreme snub. My grandmother sent a clip of Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s Oscar acceptance speech in our family’s group chat. My sister gushed over Hudson Williams’ red carpet looks with her friends on Instagram. 

All these people, despite not watching the event live, are engaging with its content, and therefore engaging with the ads that paid for that content to be made. Ad revenue is dependent on viewership, regardless of where that viewership happens. And if anything, social media allows ads to engage with an audience even more directly. Instead of being printed in a magazine, red carpet looks are now posted on instagram, with links to YSL or Prada’s online storefronts. Link’s to rent movies on amazon can be found in post captions. 

And additionally, the Oscars are hosted by the The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. When people say they’d like to “thank the academy” this is who they’re referring to. The Academy is a real museum that you can visit in Los Angeles, with over 100 years of film history. The Oscars are just a part of their goal to celebrate and preserve the art of film. 

So what do you think? Did you watch the Oscars live this year? Or do you prefer to catch up in the days after through social media?