#Mobilewatch: Alexa, will you host the 91st Oscars?
As I write this, I am getting ready to watch the 91st Academy Awards or the Oscars, as it is more popularly known. Me, and 30 million other viewers from across the world will spend 3 hours celebrating the best that the entertainment world has to offer. There was a time when the viewership had reached close to 40 million but it has been steadily declining over the last few years.
I have always loved the Oscars – it has glamor, the dresses, the commentary and it is the place where you will (hopefully) find the most well behaved actors and actresses. This is the 91st Academy Awards and the second time in all of Oscar history that nobody is going to be hosting the awards ceremony. In previous years, icons such as Ellen DeGeneres, Chris Rock, Jimmy Kimmel, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Ann Hathaway, John Seifert, Steve Martin, David Letterman, Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal have hosted the Oscars, giving it narrative, humor and more importantly, a binding thread that can only be held together by a host.
The last time that the Academy Awards did not have a host was the 61st Oscars, 30 years ago. Rain won best picture and couples such as Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, amongst others, presented the awards. A big movie year, the 61st Academy Awards celebrated movies such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, A Fish Called Wanda, Working Girl, Big, The Last Temptation of Christ, Dangerous Liaisons, Married to the Mob, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and Bill Durham. What an amazing year to celebrate iconic movies but no host! Let’s just say the night did not go well.
I would think that hosting the Oscars would be a much-coveted job! So why would no one want to do it? It is, after all, one of the most visible nights for anyone’s entertainment career to shine. Perhaps that is the reason why. There is a feeling that the gig has become toxic with one’s entire background under a microscope. God forbid there are pictures or tweets of you misbehaving from even 30 years ago – it will all be visible now. There is no hiding from the Oscar limelight. Even with dropping viewership, last year’s Oscars was the most watched television program of 2018.
But the Oscars, like many other categories around us, are changing. Who would have thought that Netflix and Amazon would become regular features at the Oscars? In fact his year, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon have all made the Oscars shortlist. Hulu has two films shortlisted for best documentary: Bing Liu’s Minding the Gap and Stephen Maing’s Crime + Punishment. Netflix has several films in the running, including Shirkers, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, End Game, Quincy and of course the much talked-about Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma. Amazon in the last few years has been very serious about Oscar recognition. Its film, Manchester By The Sea, won big last year and this year it is betting on Suspiria and Cold War. This scenario has changed in as little as the past 3 years, offering a glimpse into what the near and far future could look like with strong competition coming from note-worthy, award-winning content streaming services.
All of this brings me Alexa. While you try and convince me that Matt Damon is the best person to host the Oscars, I want to put up my nomination for Alexa to play the part. She is smart, she has a soothing voice, she has an impeccable track record (outside of the unexplained sinister laugh once-in-a-while) and she is a lot of fun.
I am ready to hear all arguments about why she is not the right ‘person’ to host the Oscars and I bet you won’t be able to find many reasons why.
Which got me thinking. What are the other jobs that Alexa has already taken over? Without you, perhaps, even realizing it? The Alarm clock comes to mind. The alarm clock, as we know it, was invented by Levi Hutchins. The only thing is, it could only go off at 4 am. So, if you had an 8 am meeting…there was another option for you — knocker uppers!
Knocker uppers were human alarm clocks working in Britain and Ireland. They were popular enough to still be in the 1970s. For a few pence, they would tap on their customer’s bedrooms, making sure they were awake before they moved to their next customer. The service was especially popular during the industrial revolution when the factories needed workers on the factory floors. They would use poles, hammers and even peashooters to shoot peas out of straws to their client’s windows! Today, the idea seems quaint, but 100 years ago, it was probably a necessity!
In my house, I don’t need any peashooters or alarm clocks! Alexa wakes my daughter up and she is so loud that she even wakes me up! I am assuming that I am not the only one whose alarm clock is out of a job because of cell phones, and now, Alexa!
Another category that Alexa has taken over in our house? Board games. The global board game market is anticipated to reach $12 billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 9%. Think evenings made memorable with games like Spot It, Monopoly, Solitaire, Trouble and Snakes ’n’ Ladders. However, in our house, my kids play 20 questions with Alexa! You think of something (anything) and Alexa will ask questions to try and guess it in 20 questions or less. If she does not get it, she loses. And if she wins, then she wins! The true question is, whether this is the beginning of the end of board games? My hypothesis is that it’s not going to take 20 questions to get that one right!
Board games have moved from family rooms to cars, trips on the road and game bars & cafes. However, the moment Amazon figures out how to offer Alexa-on-the-go, the board games category will be the next one to decline. And, rapidly. Every year, one sees more and more games begin produced for every age group. In the US alone, over 5000 board games cafes opened in 2016.
While I was on recent airplane ride, it was endearing to see the flight attendants play ludo on their phone. Till then, I was not even aware that ludo was available as an app. And soon, there will be a way to offer all of these by digital assistants such as Alexa. Attach a screen to your Alexa device, and who knows, you might even be able to play poker!
The most amazing part is that Alexa has seamlessly taken over these jobs. The mother in me is happy. Less physical board games to clutter up the family room and I am happy that my daughter is playing games with someone, even if it is a digital assistant. A few years ago, it might have prompted me to take her to a therapist; today she is wondering why am I not playing games with Alexa too.
Coming back to the Oscars, will I miss a host holding it together this year? Sure. But is the idea of Alexa hosting the Academy Awards too far fetched? I don’t think so! Jimmy Fallon and all other Oscar host contenders should be worried!
Join me every week, as we navigate these ever-changing waters to make sense of this ‘always-on’ consumer and the technologies that define their everyday. I will be bringing you insights from some of the sharpest global minds in the industry as well as in academia. And do join the conversation.
Until next week,
#Anika
A seasoned Advertising and Digital expert, Anika has worked across countries and continents and spoken at companies such as Google and universities such as NYU. She is currently Professor of Business at NYU’s Stern School of Business, teaching Digital, Social and Mobile Marketing. Follow Anika on twitter @anikadas or on Medium.
?AnikaSharma. No part of this article can be used without explicit permission. All rights reserved.