With a $4.99 price tag ABC’s coverage of the Oscars boasted an all access backstage pass via webcams. Though, I missed the fine print in purchasing my pass and realized too late that this didn’t include actual footage of the Award ceremony on February 27, 2011. Without access to ABC’s basic television broadcast, I ended up paying for banal web hosts, technical difficulties in streaming and lots of dead time.
This might have been a fun accessory if you were already watching the Oscars Sunday night. If you didn’t get enough of acceptance speeches and wanted more from recipients, you could tune in to the “Thank You” cam. Or pop over to the “Press Room” Cam or “Official Oscar Photo” Cam; even the “Makeup Room” Cam. It might have been ABC’s perfect anecdote for the short attention spans of viewers, but it wasn’t the perfect alternative to watching the Oscars.
The pre-game footage on Oscar’s Red Carpet was a nice bonus on the All Access package. Users could switch to a number of different webcams set up along the red carpet and champagne lounge. One webcam even allowed you to control a 360 degree rotation of the camera during live streaming. This expansive feature needed only a zoom control and it would’ve been celebrity gawking bliss.
This frenzy of activity didn’t carry over well into the actual Kodak Theater, where webcams were placed backstage. It offered an interesting view of some behind the scenes action, but certainly wasn’t action packed. Much of the live streaming showed people standing around with clipboards, the backs of celebrity’s heads talking in the makeup room, or press members anxiously awaiting winners. The audio wasn’t even voyeuristic, as most webcams were dubbed with horribly tacky muzak.
The “Press Room” cam offered my money’s worth, getting full press sessions with winners holding their Oscars hot off the main stage. Some highlights included, “The King’s Speech” screenwriter David Seidler, “Inception” cinematographer Wally Pfister and Best Supporting Actor Christian Bale (“The Fighter”).
Though, none of this coverage was anything viewers wouldn’t have had access to either later that night or in the morning. Audience webcams set up in the actual theater were only streamed during commercial breaks. Announcements of Oscar winners came with the anti-climatic responses from the ABC live stream hosts, who spent most of their time boring web viewers with anecdotal videos. Some were interesting, but for the most part just completely detracted from the ceremony itself. Their underwhelming coverage made me want a refund more than once.
It may have seemed worth it had I been not completely relying on the live web stream alone. Though, if viewers are going to go out of their way and subject themselves to more of ABC’s advertising online, it should be complimentary. Especially in light of the minimal action and coverage that was going on backstage.
Whatever network might continue this fad of webcams in next year’s Oscar ceremony might head a few pointers. If you are going to charge a fee for this access, make sure there is access available through better cam placements, cleaner audio of the actual footage and supplement the coverage with actual footage of the ceremony. Perhaps television networks are just protecting their bank role with advertisers, but they clearly have no issue staking claims for ad space online as well.
