Here's something to ponder: Which of this year's Best Picture nominees tarnished the prestige of the category? And was that the reason why millions didn't bother to tune into the awards telecast? A "significant faction" within the Academy thinks so, and right now they are pushing hard to reduce the Best Picture category back down to five nominees.
According to THR, this vocal group within the Academy feels that the large number of contenders has "watered down" the category from a prestige standpoint. Plus, the increase in nominees hasn't had the desired effect of increasing ratings by including more mainstream movies to the field. The policy was changed back in 2009 when the number was increased to 10. After the next year saw some not-so-great films forced into the mix (The Blind Side, Precious), the rule was made squishy by allowing a range of nominees up to 10. This year saw only 8 nominees in the Best Picture category.
If the Academy hoped an expanded Best Picture field would change the continued ratings slide it shows just how out-of-touch they really are. The big problem with the broadcast is that it's overlong and has had essentially the same, tired format for years. There's no reason that a movie awards show should be longer than all of the movies it's there to spotlight.
The real benefit of expanding the category had NOTHING to do with ratings, anyway. It was about putting some shine on films that otherwise would have been ignored. Granted, a $300M-grossing film like American Sniper doesn't need an Oscars bump, but it helped movies like Whiplash, Selma, and The Imitation Game which may not have made a 5-nominee cut. If it were up to me, I'd leave things as they are. This year is a good example of how the category should work. They saw 8 legitimate nominees and that's what we got.
The point being that if the Academy wants to increase viewership, there are more serious concerns that should be addressed. Part of that may include tweaking the number of categories or perhaps changing a few, but the number of Best Picture nominees is not the issue.
