I remember the Oscars being an all-day event when I was little. This would’ve been the early aughts, back when we all had cable TV and could throw on ABC at 4 pm to catch the red carpet. My mom wasn’t waiting until the next day to see the drama and high fashion of the night before; she was in the kitchen cooking while it was on in the background. And she always had an opinion on what and who should win because back then, we went to the movies to see each film that would be nominated.
A lot can change in 20 years, and a lot did. Awards shows like the Oscars, Emmys, and Grammys were once significant cultural events in America, drawing large audiences. Several factors have contributed to the decline in popularity of awards shows, all of which signal a loss in shared experiences, generational discrepancy, and critique of how we celebrate art.
The Oscars’ viewership peaked at 57 million in 1998 when Titanic swept categories. This year, they saw their highest viewership in 5 years, totaling just 19.7 million. Signifying reasons for the decline can be found by asking, what’s changed in the last 27 years?
Most notably, these award shows can’t seem to attract new viewers. The median age of viewers has risen to 50, an increase of over 10 years, since 2000. While Millennials and Gen Z still express interest in awards, their consumption of the pageantry looks very different than their parents.
Over-saturation and a switch to streaming is likely the biggest reason for this generational gap. Gone are the days of 4 networks and multi-camera sitcoms. We simply aren’t sharing media the same way. We are experiencing an ever-narrowing menu of options tailored for us but not by us.
When award show viewership peaked, families congregated at 8 pm on Thursdays to watch Will and Grace, which shifted public perception of LGBTQ+ communities through its audience. Cable television was a shared experience throughout neighborhoods and workplaces because networks were limited, and everyone watched the same shows. With so many options and the on-demand nature of streaming, television and movies don’t have the same cultural weight. Nor do award shows.
The Oscars aren’t even igniting a similar experience in post anymore. Only 38% of consumers say that awards shows encourage them to watch new content.
These days, Gen Z and Millennials primarily consume award shows through social media by following entertainment news networks, actors, or award platforms. A moment that is burned in our collective memories is Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift’s acceptance for Best Music Video of the Year at the 2009 VMAs. The infamy of that event proves that no one has to see the awards live or in their entirety to experience its highlights.
Short-form content is the order of the day. Social media, scrolling, and streaming have shorted attention spans considerably. According to Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation, even sitting down to watch a 90-minute movie is difficult for Gen Z. With that in mind, a 3-hour award show or the films it’s featuring aren’t going to engage younger viewers the way they used to.
Award shows are taking action to remedy falling viewership. Unfortunately, shifting cultural values and experiences isn’t easy. However, they are tackling points of critique that have been long overdue.
Concerns over representation and diversity across nominations have dominated public critique of award shows. The #OscarsSoWhite movement began in 2015 and highlighted the underrepresentation of people of color in major award categories. In 2014 and 2015, every person nominated for Best Actor/Actress and Best Supporting was white.
The movement grew as more and more people realized the disparity and spoke out. As of 2024, the percentage of nominees from underrepresented groups rose from zero to 17%. A number that is still so low, it’s sad how monumental that shift is. To put it in context, only 6% of all Oscar nominees since 1929 have been from underrepresented racial or ethnic communities.
Along with broader representation among individual actors, a call for transparency and diversity in film selection has been initiated. Audiences felt that awards had become self-congratulatory, celebrating traditional, star-studded projects rather than artistic merit. 2016 saw a shift in the stories that were recognized, with Moonlight, Parasite, CODA, and Everything Everywhere All at Once winning Best Picture.
To be clear, diversity doesn’t just mean greater representation among actors. It’s also about including projects with smaller budgets, films made outside of the US, and independent projects. These shifts favor less insularity among nominations and winners, leading to a more democratized celebration of film and artistry.
Ultimately, award shows must take steps to stop alienating potential viewers. Luckily, they are. The SAG Awards have partnered with Netflix to begin annual streaming, the first award show of its caliber to address practical accessibility. Across the board, committees are improving, albeit slowly, inclusivity among nominations. And a few are experimenting with format changes, going hostless, increasing production value, and adding new categories.
Despite these efforts, substantial challenges remain. To rescue cultural relevance and viewer engagement, award shows will have to undergo significant transformations that better align with the wants of contemporary audiences. On the other hand, the loss of shared experience and decreased attention span are problems we must fix ourselves.
Essie Somma is an artist and freelance writer exploring beauty and difficulty within the human experience. She has been traveling full-time for two years, learning about new places and cultures, and bringing all of her experiences to her work. She feels endlessly grateful for getting to share her work with others.
