Abstract
Armchair observers have long argued that the time of year at which a motion picture is released affects the movie's potential for gaining an Academy Award nomination. The introduction of consumers' videocassette recorders (VCRs) in 1975 had the potential to erase this bias. The month of release for 11 years of pre- and 11 years of post-VCR Best Picture nominees and winners was analyzed. A disproportionate number of the films were released during the last three months of the year, especially in December. No significant difference was found for the month of release between films released during 1965–1975 (prior to the introduction of VCRs) and those released during 1981–1991 (after VCRs became widely available).
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