| Blockbuster Entertainment Awards | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Peoples choice awards for music, film, and video games |
| Sponsored by | Blockbuster LLC |
| Location | Los Angeles,Hollywood |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Blockbuster Entertainment |
| Reward | Trophy |
| First award | 1995; 30 years ago (1995) |
| Final award | 2001; 24 years ago (2001) |
| Most awards | Nicolas Cage |
| Television/radio coverage | |
| Network | CBS (1995) UPN (1996–1998) Fox (1999–2001) Fox Radio |
| Produced by | Ken Ehrlich |
TheBlockbuster Entertainment Awards was a film awards ceremony, founded byBlockbuster Entertainment, Inc., that ran from 1995 until 2001, and ended with the decision to cancel the 2002 awards following concerns after theSeptember 11 attacks. They were produced each year byKen Ehrlich.[1][2]
Theawards were first held on June 3, 1995, at thePantages Theatre[3] and broadcast on June 6.[4] The idea for the awards show came from Blockbuster marketing executive Brian Woods,[5] who worked on the project for about two years.[6] Blockbuster reportedly saw creating the awards as a way of promoting both the company and also the performers whose records and films were sold in their stores.
We wanted to have entertainers who are truly public favorites, likeArnold Schwarzenegger orSylvester Stallone orJean-Claude Van Damme, people who do big box office and big business in home video, but are not in the foreseeable future likely to be nominated for an Academy Award.
CBS signed a contract to screen the awards in late 1994, andKen Ehrlich was hired to produce. Winners were determined by votes cast by customers in Blockbuster stores. The ballot consisted of the year's three top-grossing films, videos, and music albums[5] in 33 categories.[6] Over 1.5 million votes were cast and approximately 10 million people watched the awards on television. The music and video industry "turned out in full force" for the event, which was hosted byCindy Crawford andWilliam Baldwin. Celebrities attending includedBill Pullman,George Clooney,Kurt Russell,Steve Martin,Jennifer Tilly,Melanie Griffith,Danny Glover,Alfre Woodard, andDavid Spade.[4]Jim Carrey, who won three awards, was one of the few winners who thanked voters for his award, stating: "I'm thankful for this award, even if you rented my tapes just to show the guy behind the counter that you rent more than porn videos." Eileen Fitzpatrick ofBillboard magazine stated that the awards show was "surprisingly entertaining", and applauded Blockbuster for "raising the status of home video". Fitzpatrick questioned the idea of handing out awards for films in both theatrical and video releases, saying it did not make much sense, as almost all films nominated had been on video for several months. This caused confusion for recipients, many of whom did not understand what award they were getting.Sandra Bullock had just received the award for Best Action / Adventure / Thriller Actress in Video for the filmSpeed, when she was named the winner for the same film in the theatrical category, and "literally didn't know whether she was coming on or going off the stage."[7]
The second Blockbuster Entertainment Awards were held on March 6, 1996[8] at thePantages Theatre,[9] and hosted byKelsey Grammer. As Blockbuster was owned byViacom, who also ownedParamount Pictures,MTV,Big Ticket Television andWorldvision Enterprises, producer Ken Ehrlich stated the awards "bent over backward" to avoid any connections with Paramount, in order to give the awards more credibility. Paramount productions were nominated for only 5 of the 49 nominations, though coverage of the awards switched from CBS to theUnited Paramount Network.[10] Unlike the first ceremony, which was taped and aired later, the 2nd ceremony was aired live.[11]
The 3rd Blockbuster Entertainment Awards were held on March 11, 1997, at the Pantages Theatre. Over 11 million votes were cast, which made it the largest publicly-voted awards presentation in history at the time.[12]Reba McEntire, Tony Rich,Blackstreet andGarth Brooks performed live.
The4th Annual Blockbuster Entertainment Awards were held on March 10, 1998, at the Pantages Theatre. Once again over 11 million votes were cast.Boyz II Men,Garth Brooks,Mariah Carey andSavage Garden performed live.[9]
The 5th Blockbuster Entertainment Awards were held on June 16, 1999[13] at theShrine Auditorium.[14][15] Approximately 6.5 million people watched the awards on television.[16]Harry Connick, Jr. described his nomination for Best Actor for the critically panned filmHope Floats as "absolutely insane".[17]
The6th Blockbuster Entertainment Awards were held on May 9, 2000[18] at the Shrine Auditorium, and for the first time presented awards forvideo games in addition to music and film.[19]Christina Aguilera and theBackstreet Boys both received two awards.[20]
The7th and final Blockbuster Entertainment Awards were held on April 10, 2001, at the Shrine Auditorium.[2] Approximately 4.5 million people watched the awards on television.[16]Stevie Nicks,Sheryl Crow,Joe,Mystikal,LeAnn Rimes andRicky Martin performed live at the event.[21]
These were the categories presented at the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards.
In November 2001, after having run for seven consecutive years, Blockbuster announced they were canceling the awards following concerns after theSeptember 11 attacks, stating: "Due to the uncertainty of the times, we can't predict consumer response to our show, nor audience behavior—especially media viewing habits—all of which are being affected by world events."[22][23] Blockbuster stated their decision to cancel the awards was influenced by the fact that the53rd Primetime Emmy Awards had to be rescheduled twice following security concerns after the September 11 attacks, and that when they did air, their ratings were 22% lower than the previous year.[16]
| Year | Day | Air date | Network | Household rating | 18–49 rating | Viewers (millions) | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | Share | Rating | Share | ||||||
| 1995 | Tuesday | June 6 | CBS | 5.7 | 10 | — | — | 8.20 | [24] |
| 1996 | Wednesday | March 6 | UPN | 2.4 | 4 | — | — | 3.10 | [25] |
| 1997 | Tuesday | March 11 | 3.3 | 5 | — | — | 4.62 | [26][27] | |
| 1998 | March 10 | 3.1 | 5 | — | — | 4.63 | [28][29] | ||
| 1999 | Wednesday | June 16 | Fox | 6.5 | 11 | — | — | 9.67 | [30][31] |
| 2000 | Tuesday | June 20 | 4.3 | 8 | 2.5 | 8 | 5.89 | [32][33][34] | |
| 2001 | Wednesday | April 11 | 4.5 | — | 2.7 | 8 | 6.44 | [35][36][37] | |
| Notable people |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Blockbuster Entertainment Awards | ||
| Former brands and acquisitions | ||
| Lawsuits | ||
| Cultural impact | ||