The other fight at last night’s Academy Awards was a quieter one than the one that sent Twitter into a tailspin: Apple TV+ beat out Netflix to win streaming’s first Best Picture Oscar.
Netflix became the first streaming platform to be nominated for an Oscar in 2014, and won an Oscar for best documentary short in 2017. Since their Academy debut, they’ve become a nomination giant with the 2022 season seeing 35 nominations for the streaming platform. The company has had the most nominations of any studio three years running. This year, Netflix originals The Power of the Dog and Don’t Look Up were both nominated for Best Picture, and The Power of the Dog was a favorite to win.
Enter Apple TV+’s CODA, which took the top prize last night after an active campaign, and also won big at the Producer Guild of America and the SAG awards. Apple TV+ is currently a smaller streaming service than Netflix, but a Best Picture winner under their belt might attract more subscribers.
The will they/won’t they talk of awards for the streamers has been a topic for years, with those services going from outsider status to mainstream players at awards shows like the Oscars and the Emmys. In 2021, Netflix was the top studio of the night at the Oscars, taking home seven awards.
The acknowledgement of streaming services original programming at awards shows over the past two years in particular makes a lot of sense. The LA Times called the 2021 Oscar’s the “Living Room” Oscar’s, as the pandemic added to the dominance of streaming services’ programming. This year is no different. Apple TV+ might be smaller, but with Netflix’s continuous price-raising, ill-chosen series cancellations, and the possibility of ads being added to the platform, perhaps this won’t be the last time we’ll see a challenger win against the red giant.
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