LOS ANGELES (KNX) – As Hollywood is just a couple days away from the 94th Academy Awards, the question on some people’s mind is, well, who cares?
It’s no secret viewership for the Oscars has been in decline, with last year’s ceremony hitting an all-time low.
Emily Yahr, an entertainment and pop culture reporter for the Washington Post, told KNX In Depth, the Oscars are using this year’s show to bring back viewers.
“So, as with all the other shows, the Oscars are trying to figure out a way to get people to tune in,” she said.
“I think having host back might help a bit. I mean the last few years there hasn’t been anyone. It’s a very thankless job usually so, yeah they’re hoping Regina Hall and Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes might be able to help. You know, they’re starting this…they have a new kind of honorary award where audience members pick their favorite movies. So yeah, I think you’re gonna see a lot of attempts to try audiences back.”
But are there any movies audience members do care about that are nominated? Yahr said many nominees were found on popular streaming services.
“… King Richards was on HBO Max and Power of the Dog was on Netflix, so it was easier to watch them,” she said. “It’s still kind of hard to tell how familiar people are with them. But then I think, of course, you get the question every year, ‘why wasn’t Spiderman nominated?’ Which is what (the Oscars) is trying to combat with giving the audience the chance to vote in this new Twitter poll…”
Yahr added that despite attempts to get people to care about award shows, there will still be viewers who will tune in Sunday night.
“I think some people kind of tune into award shows knowing exactly what they’re and really don’t consider those kind of things boring,” she said, “There’s something crazy that happens every year regardless of how slow you think the show actually is.”
You can watch the 94th Academy Awards on Sunday at 5p.m. PST/8 p.m. EST on ABC, or on streaming services including YouTube TV and Hulu.
Listen to Yahr’s full interview in the audio above.
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