Do Oscar Nominations Drive Streaming Viewership?
My Semi-Regular Check-in on the Academy Awards Nominated Films
(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what is popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. Please subscribe.)
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read someone arguing (or just casually mentioning as if it’s common knowledge) that a major award nomination or win will “bump” the viewership of a film or TV show.
That is, frankly, not true, but it’s complicated.
First, films trying to win an Oscar usually do see a bump in theatrical performance, because they either are in theaters (or come back to theaters) with an FYC campaign, which naturally boosts interest and awareness, especially in Los Angeles and New York, where most awards voters live.
Second, Oscar nominations and wins can boost streaming viewership. But that boost is small.
As I’ve written for a while, Oscar and Emmy-award-winning TV shows and films rarely become hits (if the TV show or film wasn’t already a hit TV show or film). Some movies can make the charts—though many, if not most, Oscar nominated films don’t—and when they do, unless they were big in theaters, they usually don’t perform all that well.
We can see that with this year’s crop of Oscar contenders.
Do Oscar Nominated Films Perform Well on the Viewership Charts?
We can lump the Oscar Best Picture nominees (with a few “almost got nominated” awards contenders) by their performance.