CarterMatt Awards 2016 results: ‘Outlander’ wins Best Fanbase prize

Throughout the month we’ve seen hundreds of thousands of votes cast in our annual CarterMatt Awards vote, and we’re thrilled today to reveal in particular the results to one of our favorite categories: Best Fanbase. This is an award that is meant to specifically honor fandoms, something that is incredibly important to the success of them. These groups are sometimes responsible for bringing shows infinitely more attention, inspiring cast and crew members with their support, and in the case of some shows, even fighting to ensure that they stay on the air.

For the sake of this year’s vote, there was a pretty clear winner: “Outlander” is the winner of Best Fanbase of 2016.

All of the shows nominated did receive a wide array of votes, but in the end “Outlander” had a decisive victory with more than 51% of the vote in its direction. “Longmire” on Netflix was in second place with 17%.

Earlier this month, we actually wrote a lengthy piece discussing why “Outlander” fans are among the most-passionate out there, and why they often support the show in everything from fan polls to awards shows to everything in between. These people are one of the reasons why the show is already renewed through season 4! Our hypothesis is that the fan support has a lot to do with the beloved source material from Diana Gabaldon that is already out there, coupled with an amazing cast and crew who interacts with fans online and also a fandom that is by and large unified. There may be differing opinions here and there, but we’ve seen far fewer fractures here than there are elsewhere and this group remains wonderfully supportive of the show they love.

Thanks to “Outlander” fans, this show has been honored for two straight years by the Critics’ Choice Awards, and there is a chance that they could be big winners at the People’s Choice Awards next month. While fans don’t vote for shows like the Golden Globes, we do think that all of the awareness online does help prospective voters be familiarized better with the series and the outstanding performances from the likes of Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan.

So congratulations again, “Outlander” fans! Bask in your glory, and we’ll see what happens when season 3 premieres on Starz in the new year!