Awards show viewership has been on the decline for years, but recent data show that younger generations seem to care more about awards show results despite not tuning in to see the live coverage. 

2024’s awards season defied the recent trend of low ratings as a majority of the big-name award shows saw an increase in viewership over the previous year. 

This year’s Academy Awards brought in 19.5 million viewers. This is a four-year high, up from 18.8 million in 2023. The 65^th Grammys, which took place in February of 2024, drew 12.4 million viewers on CBS, a 30% increase compared to the previous year’s 9.6 million viewers. The January 2024 Grammys became the most watched Grammys since 2020, with 18.7 million viewers. The Golden Globes earned a live audience of over 10 million viewers, its largest audience since 2020 and a 50% increase from the previous year. 

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Despite these numbers giving hope to the organizations that fund these shows, the issue still stands: younger generations are simply not interested in tuning into the live coverage of awards shows. 

(QUOTE FROM INTERVIEW W/ ALEXANDRIA) 

According to Variety, all of the key awards shows’ (The Academy Awards, The Grammys, The Emmys, The Golden Globes) average viewers are over the age of 50. Despite this, the younger generations are actually more likely to care about the results. 

Data published by the National Research Organization show that 68% of Generation (Gen) Z cares about the Grammys, more than any other age demographic. 64% of Gen Z cares about the Academy Awards and 59% cares about the Emmys.

(QUOTE FROM INTERVIEW W/ TERRY) 

Despite data showing that Gen Z cares more about most of the awards shows than other generations, they are still less likely to tune-in to live coverage overall. 

When asked about engaging with the 2024 Academy Awards, consumers who said they cared “a bit” or “a lot” about the Academy Awards shared the different ways in which they planned on engaging with the coverage. When it came to watching live, only 42% of Gen Z said they were planning on watching live, compared to 67% of Boomers. 

Interestingly, Gen Z was the highest percentage in every other category of engagement with the Academy Awards in the data.  These categories include watching clips on social media afterwards (54%), following the ceremony on social media (39%), following actors/nominees on social media (37%) and posting about it on social media (15%). 

The main issue networks are having is trying to make sitting through a live awards show more palatable to a younger audience. (QUOTE FROM TERRY ABOUT WHAT THEY ARE DOING) TO APPEAL TO YOUNGER AUDIENCES AT THE EMMYS).  

(QUOTE FROM INTERVIEW W/ DANA) 

For many members of Gen Z, awards show season means fun content from popular celebrities, and the opportunity for a new scandal or meme to hit the internet the following morning. For others, however, awards season is meant to be a celebration of all the art created in the previous year. 

The National Research Group concluded that 65% of consumers—73% of which are Gen Z—agree that awards shows are important when it comes to celebrating achievements within the entertainment industry. So why, then, is it so hard for this generation to tune in live? 

(QUOTE FROM ALEXANDRIA ABOUT WHY AWARDS SHOWS AREN’T AS PALATABLE TO YOUNGER GENERATIONS) 

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While awards shows still have a long way to go in terms of earning the loyalty of a Gen Z audience, things are certainly headed in the right direction. Once the big-name awards shows start to really gain traction within Gen Z circles, more niche awards shows such as the Tony Awards, the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Writers Guild Awards will also start to gain a hefty viewership among younger audiences. 

Audiences today no longer view awards shows as an industry-only event that is catered to only people within the industry, but instead see them as a way to celebrate all the hard work that goes into the content created by the entertainment industry. 

Many people are hopeful that as Gen Z becomes more involved within the industry, the number of young people watching awards coverage live will increase.