While producers behind the 94th annual Academy Awards hope a triple bill of hosts — Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes, and Regina Hall — will goose viewer numbers, a new survey shows who plans to watch the ceremony.
A OnePoll survey of 1,000 people shows that 74% want to tune in this year, with 56% admitting they’re going to try to watch as many of the nominated films as they can before March 27, when the telecast airs live on ABC. Indeed, with so many nominated movies available on streaming services — including Spencer on Apple TV+, and tick…tick…BOOM! and The Power of the Dog on Netflix — it’s easier to be in the know than ever before.
Forty percent said the Oscars help “recognize filmmakers whose work wouldn’t otherwise be able to compete with billion-dollar blockbusters.”
On the other hand, 13% claim to be “actively disinterested” in the awards show, while 23% labeled the Academy Awards overrated.
The poll also asked what respondents thought were 2021’s biggest Oscar snubs — including Nicolas Cage in Pig, Lady Gaga in House of Gucci, and Jennifer Hudson in the Aretha Franklin biopic Respect.
And 39% of those polled said that, in spite of more nominations for people of color since the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences still “hasn’t done enough to recognize filmmakers from different viewpoints and backgrounds.”
It should be noted that this poll was conducted before the Academy’s controversial decision not to air several award wins live, including categories like Best Editing and Sound, so it’s not known if that would have dampened any of the enthusiasm from that 74%.
Survey questions, methodology and results have not been verified or endorsed by ABC News or The Walt Disney Company.
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