Do awards shows matter any more to you? Do you watch all, some or none? Do they influence your viewing choices? Is this crazy year an exception to your rule?
Believe it or not, even in this crazy year of awards show ratings disasters, if your answer to the question of do awards shows matter any more is yes, you’re in the majority. In fact, a sizable majority (69%) of filmgoers surveyed by USDish said they do indeed care about tuning in to awards shows each year.
But with so many things things to watch nowadays, it’s hard to keep up and to know who’s been nominated for what.
There was a time when you could tune in to a big awards show and see a handful of big blockbusters up for the Oscar or a Golden Globe, and TV’s highest-profile stars would be vying for the Emmy or the People’s Choice Awards. Nowadays, nominees often include indie actors in obscure, limited-release movies, or arty TV series that are really hard to find and require expensive subscriptions to watch.
But the survey says we still tune in—at least, for now. The team at USDish surveyed 1,000 Americans to see how they’re influenced by awards nominations and the results are surprising!
Do Awards Shows Matter Any More? 5 Surprising Stats on How We Feel About Them
1. The voters, the critics, or themselves: Who do people trust when choosing a movie to watch?
We all love to play “armchair critic” and guess who might win a coveted gold statuette, but do we actually put stock in our own opinion? Fifty-nine percent of respondents say they trust movie scores from sites like IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes at least as much as they trust movie nominations, if not more. The fewest respondents trust movie nominations most, while double that group (22%) trust their own opinions over the critics’ and insiders. Check out their reasons below:
2. How many actually look forward to popping the popcorn and uncorking the champagne on movie awards nights?
2. How many actually look forward to popping the popcorn and uncorking the champagne on movie awards nights?A sizable majority (69%) of filmgoers said they care about tuning in to movie awards shows each year, with nearly half that group saying that their interest depends on a specific actor or movie nomination. Of the remainder, about half still care enough to get the scoop after the show.
3. Do film fans want to see all the nominated films before, or after, the ceremony?
Most moviegoers (59%) consider the timing of the awards show when watching nominated films, with preferences for before and after split right down the middle. The remaining 41% may not watch at all, or they just don’t care about watching at the same time as everyone else.
4. Which matters more when deciding what to watch—reviews or awards?
Three-quarters of the polled film fans look up a movie’s scores or award nominations before they press Play, with most of them favoring the movie reviews. Those who watch what they want regardless—and the folks who may care, but not enough to do a Google search—make up the remaining 25%.
5. For those who do care about awards-love, which awards do they care about the most?
Trophies instill confidence in exactly half of the survey takers; they trust the Oscars over other high-profile movie awards. The other major US film awards each received between 10% and 20% of the vote, and the British BAFTAs came in last at just 6%.
Conclusion: Although most of those polled watch the nominated movies and awards shows each year, few look to the accolades as the sole source of truth on what makes a movie worth seeing. When filling their watchlists, in fact, movie buffs check review scores far more often than they look up movie nominations—and a good number just follow their hearts.
A majority says yes to the question: Do awards shows matter any more? See what other surprising info came out in this survey.
