Netflix earned more Oscar nominations than any traditional film studio in 2020, tallying two dozen – including two Best Picture contenders in Marriage Story and The Irishman.
And people are OK with it. It appears that the already limited opposition to including movies produced by Netflix and other streaming services in the Oscars is fading.
In a CivicScience survey of more than 1,700 U.S. adults in January 2020, only 19% of respondents said they disagree with the idea of including streaming service movies in the Academy Awards, including 11% who “strongly disagree.”
That’s an appreciable decrease from last year, when 23% of U.S. adults said they wanted the Academy to consider silver-screen movies only.
Those who don’t want streaming movies to be part of the Oscars tend to be older and female. They also go out to movie theaters less often than those who support the inclusion of Netflix in the awards.
Additionally, those who say they’ll watch the Oscars this year are just as likely to agree with Netflix’s inclusion as those who say they won’t watch the awards show.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the 40% of American adults who don’t stream any content at all are far more likely to oppose the inclusion of Netflix in the Oscars than those who do stream content. Still, though, a solid majority of non-streamers support the inclusion of Netflix.
While there might still be some small pockets of resistance to the idea, Netflix clearly has the potential for long-term success at the Oscars.
