The show must go on, but will award shows?

Various different awards. Photo from Unsplash.com

By Grace Monta, staff writer and Alix Lohyde, staff writer

Have you tuned in to an award show in the last three years? Statistics show that you and many others probably didn’t. 

Since 2020, award shows have seen a significant decline in viewership, mainly due to Covid. And while you may have expected them to bounce back, interest in award shows has still been declining. Before Covid, award shows were massive events that many would look forward to, whether it be the interviews beforehand, the outfits, or the entertainment of it all. However, now they seem to just be an afterthought. When award shows were first announced, they were something new and exciting for the audience—they were massive, once-in-a-lifetime awards, yet now it seems that people just don’t care.

With award shows slightly declining in popularity in the past decade, they reached an all-time low in 2020, with only a handful of people watching the Oscars, Grammys, and Emmys.
In 2022, the Golden Globes didn’t even go on due to a controversy. And while award shows have started to improve in viewership again, last year, there were only a couple million people more, which is pretty small, especially compared to their previous viewership. 

So what’s the problem? Why is nobody watching these shows anymore? 

There are a multitude of reasons why award shows have been dying, the rise of streaming services and the death of cable being two. Many of these award shows are hosted on live television, meaning that audiences can only tune in if they have cable. The rise of streaming services, including Netflix, Hulu, Disney +, and Prime seemed more convenient for people than switching the channels and waiting for a movie or show. For many, award shows aren’t worth keeping cable unless they are really passionate about them. However, it seems that some of these shows are starting to realize this as some are being put on said streaming services. Though here presents a problem too as they're also getting incredibly hard to find without having subscriptions, making streaming services not worth it either. 

Award shows just don’t seem entertaining to the masses. Many of the awards shows follow the same formula they have had for years, growing stale after so long. Additionally, many recent hosts and jokes seem to be repeated and tend not to land with audiences the way they used to. Many of these award shows have also suffered from not appealing to a younger audience. Failing to reach these new audiences and the lack of new ideas to make things exciting again has convinced fewer and fewer people to watch these shows. 

People now have shorter attention spans as well. Many just can’t sit through a 3+ hour show with multiple ad breaks. People seem to only tune into these shows when something uniquely interesting happens, which will most likely always be on social media—most people don’t care who wins anymore, as long as they see the highlighted moments in the media, they are satisfied.

And it’s not just the public growing disinterested, many celebrities have not been attending either or, worse yet, outwardly speaking out against these award shows. Most of the problems start because of people fighting or the media warping situations that didn't really happen that way, leading to a lot of messy deals. Most of the celebrities speaking out said that these shows value popularity over actual raw performances. For example, multiple Grammy nominees have spoken out against how the Academy doesn’t care for new styles and prefers people who have been in the industry longer. 

The role of a celebrity is also a key factor in this, as influencers have risen on the radar. Influencers have been rising in the spotlight to the point it’s not uncommon to see them replacing celebrities in what they usually do, whether it be movies, shows, or interview spots. Influencers seem more appealing to the masses as celebrity culture dies down.

It just seems like a missed opportunity for actors and audiences alike, as a lot of good people, movies, and shows got recognized in this way, and it was a way for people to find out what movies were good so that they could watch it for themselves. But who knows? Award shows could come back at some point and become as influential as they once were.