SHELLY PALMER REPORT: The Oscars: A lesson or just a bad show?

THE OSCARS telecast averaged an 187 rating and a 29 share That39s TVGeekSpeak for the lowest ratings since 1974 about 32 million viewers a 20 drop from last year Some pundits are blaming the dismal ratings on the dark nature of the top films Best picture quotNo Country for Old Menquot focused on a psychopathic killer While it39s true that many of the nominated work was not exactly family fare I39m not sure you can blame this year39s ratings on the films And I39m not sure that the Awards Show genre is to blame either The problem may be simple economics supply and demandThere was a time when quotThe Oscarsquot was special It was one few nights of the year you could see your favorite movie stars on display this created scarcity in the marketplace Movie stars and their management knew that the vaudeville admonition quotAlways leave them wanting morequot was an immutable law of stardom Stars especially big stars were only on display in limited quantities George C Scott one of the biggest stars of the 7039s actually won best actor for his performance in quotPattonquot and didn39t bother to show up at all Now that39s scarcityThat was then Today our culture is famecrazed It39s more of an obsession actually To slake this morbid thirst we have well amp8211 let39s count 39em Access Hollywood ET CNN Hollywood Insider TMZ E The Today Show GMA CBS This Morning Live wRegis ampamp Kelly plus all the late night shows plus all the specials plus the repurposed documentaries plus the simple fact that you are only one click away from everything you ever wanted to know about anybody who has ever been in a film amp8211 this list is actually endlessThe ratings for this year39s Oscar telecast may simply be a reflection of the oversupply of star stuff in the marketplace And with no particularly remarkable film conflict controversy or compelling story element to bring viewers into the tent the result was dismal ratingsThere is a little bit of circumstantial evidence to support this thesis A few weeks ago Super Bowl XLII was the mostwatched sporting event on record and the second mostwatched TV program in history Nielsen says an average of 975 million viewers watched the GiantsPats contest The mostwatched program is still the MASH finale which drew 106 million viewers in 1983 The big game also broke a record for total viewership with 1483 million viewers persons age 2 watching all or part of the game The previous record stood at 1444 million for Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004Emergent sporting events are the polar opposite of awards shows which laud evergreen content They are very very scarce In fact they play live and they play only onceTo be sure every sports show is not the Super Bowl But it is not unfair to compare the two shows Each is a heavily promoted annual event with 100 brand awareness amongst their respective target audiences and each is broadcast live Which begs the question quotIs it time to rethink the Oscarsquot The obvious answer is yes There is simply too much competition for the shows unique selling principle to remain stargazing gownrating and gossipmongering The audience can get a better version of it 247365 from places they frequently visit and are used to using for that particular purpose Want to see stars in gowns Check out the pages of US Magazine any issue Most women I know who care about such things actually prefer US to any other media My wife explained it to me matteroffactly US Magazine pays special attention the how they crop their photographs and almost every shot of a star in a gown is displayed full length to include the shoes I didn39t see one Red Carpet shot with shoes Jimmy Choo where are youEveryone who has been in the television business for more than a minute will tell you that all you need for a successful show is great story telling and real conflict The awards show format does not lend itself to great story telling And conflict such that it can exist is completely dependent upon the nominated films and stars That being said next year39s show could be the highest rated of all time if a few completely uncontrollable variables come into play Perhaps a couple of big stars will be dating or have just broken up Maybe one of the films will break box office records or there will be an overwhelming theme that has the country39s attention and focuses them on the show Any one of these things could easily add 10 million viewers but it39s not something you can count onI would probably be smarter to reimagine the show and adjust its focus If viewers have seen it all before quotflip the scriptquot In an industry that lives or dies by promotion where attention truly drives the economy it is going to be very hard to count on the return of scarcity However there are other compelling aspects of the world of entertainment that can be presented in a unique wayWas this year39s Oscar telecast a bad show or is there just too much supply and not enough demand for the content Either way there39s a lesson to be learnedShelly Palmer is Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC and the author of Television Disrupted The Transition from Network to Networked TV 2006 Focal Press Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts ampamp Sciences NY the organization that bestows the coveted Emmyamp174 Awards He is the ViceChairman of the National Academy of Media Arts ampamp Sciences an organization dedicated to education and leadership in the areas of technology media and entertainment Palmer also oversees the Advanced Media Technology Emmyamp174 Awards which honors outstanding achievements in the science and technology of advanced media You can read Shelly39s blog here Visit Shelly39s website at wwwShellyPalmerMediacom or reach Shelly at shellypalmernetCheck out the Shelly Palmer Report archiveJack Myers Live From TED Robin Williams Saves TED and BBC From Tech Meltdown Jack Myers Live From TED This Year39s Upfront Events When Are TheyFind Out at JackMyerscomamp160

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SHELLY PALMER REPORT: The Oscars: A lesson or just a bad show?

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