Over the past month, E.B. Lane organized an office Oscars pool, and opened it up to others in our community as well. We worked with some of our local reps to gather some great prizes as incentives for participation. Many thanks to ABC-15, MNI, Cox Communications, ScreenVision and NCM Cinema Network for supplying us with some great prizes. We had 34 participants in the contest, and awarded 5 prizes to the top-4 winners, plus a prize for last place.
Once the big night came, I was determined to win both the EBL Oscar Pool and pool at a friend’s Academy Awards viewing party. The room was filled with 60-plus-year-olds, making my husband and I the youngest in the room by decades. A ballot victory seemed certain for one of us.
However, I was quickly put in my place as we all graded our Oscar’s home ballots, and I learned that the majority of this crowd was much more movie savvy than I! Once seeing how much this show already appealed to this older demographic, it became clear where the show was aiming with their fresh, young hosts and funny one-liners:
Anne Hathaway: “You’re so young and so hip.”
James Franco: “And you’re very appealing to the younger demographic as well.”
It seems the Academy’s “younger hosts = younger viewers” theory paid off, as the show was down just 5 percent in the 18–34 demographic. An average audience of 37.6 million tuned in to the program on ABC last Sunday, which was 10% lower than last year (41.7 million in 2010). While 2010 marked a five-year high in viewership, 2011 did pull ahead of both 2009 (36.3 million) and the record low of 2008 (32.0 million). This is a larger audience than anything but football, towering over the top-rated American Idol on Fox (26.2 million) as well as the Grammys on CBS (26.7 million). ABC also noted that preliminary data showed a 29% increase in viewers versus last year on Oscar.go.com and the Oscar Backstage Pass app.
Advertiser demand was strong for this year’s Awards, with ABC reporting more than two weeks before the telecast that it had sold all available spots. Each 30-second spot cost about $1.7 million. It’s estimated the network collected more than $80 million in revenue.
So, now, the big question: Did I redeem myself with the EBL Oscar Pool? Sadly, I was denied.
1st Place, with 19 of 23 answers correct: Deborah Peterson
2nd Place, with 18 correct: Dave Klein
3rd Place tie, with 16 correct: Keslie Abbott
3rd Place tie, with 16 correct: Diane Hogan
And Last Place, with only 4 correct guesses: Heather White
Thanks to all the EBLers, friends and partners for participating. And let us know how you did on your ballot below.
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