Did you watch the 93rd Academy Awards ceremony this year? Chances are you didn’t, and you weren’t alone. The 2021 edition was the least viewed and lowest rated in the award show’s history, according to Nielsen Ratings. Take a look at this graph from CNBC below:
The 2021 ceremony saw a staggering 56% drop off in viewership from the previous year, which was itself already one of the least viewed shows in Oscar history. Now of course, these are just award shows. What about Box Office numbers? IMDB reports that the global cinema gross in 2020 was $2.1 billion, a loss of over $9 billion from 2019.
The movie industry is in crisis. Faced with the rise of streaming services and a global pandemic that shut down both theatres and productions in 2020, companies are scrambling to get online. Warner Bros has already announced it will be releasing its 2021 movies direct to streaming the same day as their theatrical release.
People have been predicting the end of traditional cinema for decades, and while we have seen movie rental stores close down and suburban theatres fail, it looks like Covid-19 might be what finally puts the nail in the coffin.