PopcornGap: Rotten Tomatoes Audience Scores Without the Push Votes
5 hours ago
- Before 2019, Rotten Tomatoes used a 'pull' system where users voluntarily visited the site to rate movies. Since 2019, they switched to a 'push' system by prompting ticket-buyers via apps like Fandango.
- The 'push' system yields more positive scores from opening-weekend crowds, while the 'pull' system (used before 2019) gives harsher scores from self-selected users.
- The 'Real' score is calculated by subtracting verified (push) votes from the total audience, revealing the unverified (pull) crowd's rating, which is often lower.
- For example, 'The Odyssey' showed a 97% Verified score versus a 56.2% Real score from unverified users on the same day.
- Users can verify scores by inspecting a movie's page source and comparing 'likedCount' and 'notLikedCount' under 'audienceAll' and 'audienceVerified'.
- The real score may be less reliable for films with fewer than 30 unverified votes due to small sample sizes.
- Rotten Tomatoes is owned by Fandango Media, which is majority-owned by NBCUniversal and minority-owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, both major film studios.