Why the Oscars can afford to get political
(CNN)For years, conservatives have railed against Hollywood’s liberal political leanings, gleefully citing declining award-show ratings as proof that people were turned off by civics lectures from privileged stars.
Yet as the industry prepares for what could be one of the more political Oscar telecasts in memory, the danger to Oscar ratings posed by that dynamic appears minimal, if the trajectory of what’s known as “awards season” thus far is any guide.
At this point, the Academy of Motion Picture arts and Sciences, which presents the Oscars, and ABC, which televises it, should have little to fear in terms of alienating potential viewers. That’s because tune-out among those likely to be seriously put off by hearing actors weigh into the political fray has to be pretty well baked into the formula.
Other awards that have aired in the run-up to the Oscars — the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards and most recently the Grammys — haven’t paid a price, despite on-stage denunciations of the Trump administration. In late night, Stephen Colbert’s surge ahead of Jimmy Fallon’s “The Tonight Show” looks directly related to his status as a go-to source of Donald Trump putdowns.
The Academy Awards, admittedly, provide a much bigger stage, second only to playoff football among annual televised events. But its viewership drop over the years — to about 34.4 million viewers in 2016, the lowest number since 2008 — can be traced to numerous factors, including the sheer glut of awards ceremonies, a more fragmented content marketplace and a schism between the art-house movies that get nominated and the blockbusters more people…
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