Who are award shows for anymore?

On September 27th, the VMAs happened. Coined “the biggest night in pop culture”, the award show was hosted by Snoop Dog, and leaned heavily into live events and spectacle. Madonna took home 7 awards, Taylor Swift 2 – but did you hear anything about the VMAs? Did you even know they happened?

The VMAs used to be one of the biggest nights in pop culture. At their peak in 2011, they drew 12.4 million viewers, and moments like Kanye interrupting Taylor Swift or Madonna kissing Britney Spears became cultural history. If you cared about pop culture, you watched the VMAs. It was the kind of event everyone talked about the next morning.

Today, it's a completely different story. A show that once created the moments everyone talked about is now struggling to be part of the conversation.

This problem isn’t just for the VMAs. Award show viewership has dropped dramatically in the past decade. All notable award shows have fallen by at least ⅔ in viewership since the 1990s. This raises the question: Who is an award show actually for in 2026?

Why Did We Watch Award Shows in the First Place?

Historically, there were two reasons people watched award shows: the award itself or the show surrounding it.

For ceremonies like the Oscars, Emmys, Tonys, and Grammys, the awards actually matter. Winning an Oscar could completely transform an actor's career overnight, while a Grammy could cement an artist's legacy. People tune in because they genuinely care about who wins.

Then there are shows like the VMAs, where the awards were almost secondary. People aren’t watching to find out who won Best Music Video. They are watching outrageous outfits, unforgettable performances, and celebrity drama. They wanted to witness the next big pop culture moment before everyone else.

Of course, some ceremonies offered both. The Oscars are primarily about recognizing achievement, but they also produce pop culture moments like Will Smith slapping Chris Rock that dominated the cultural conversation. The Grammys generate online buzz around who will win album of the year.

Some award shows matter because the award matters. Others matter because the moment matters. And some are a mix of both.

The problem is that both reasons for mattering are becoming less important, and award shows are struggling to make audiences care about either. There’s one primary cause for this: the internet.

The Internet Killed Celebrity Access

Before social media, celebrities were mysterious. You didn't know what your favorite artist was doing every day, what they thought about every issue, or what their personal life looked like.

Award shows offered a rare glimpse into their world. Seeing a celebrity walk the red carpet, give an emotional acceptance speech, or interact with another famous person felt special because we rarely got to see them outside their work.

But today, celebrities are literally everywhere. We follow their daily lives on Instagram, hear their unfiltered opinions on interviews like Hot Ones or Chicken Shop Date, and watch them interact with fans on TikTok.

The more access we've gained to celebrities, the less special it feels to see them. 

The Internet Killed Exclusivity

The problem goes beyond celebrities themselves. Award shows have also lost the exclusivity of the experiences they once offered.

A major live performance once used to be something you could only catch on television. A red carpet reveal was an event in itself. A celebrity speech could generate headlines because it offered something you couldn't see anywhere else.

Today, artists regularly deliver elaborate performances on tour, livestream their concerts, and release behind-the-scenes content. Fashion reveals happen directly on Instagram, while long-form podcasts offer more intimate celebrity interviews than any red carpet reporter could.

Award shows are no longer the only place to experience the things that once made them worth watching.

The Internet Killed FOMO

Maybe the biggest thing the internet killed was the fear of missing out. The promise of live television was simple: you had to be there.

Think about Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift at the 2009 VMAs, La La Land mistakenly being announced as Best Picture at the Oscars, or Will Smith slapping Chris Rock. These moments became part of cultural history, and part of the excitement was watching them unfold in real time. You never knew what might happen, and you didn't want to be the only person who missed it.

Today, that urgency has largely disappeared.

If something noteworthy happens at an awards show, you'll see it on your phone moments later. The Best Picture winner will be on X before the acceptance speech ends. Sabrina Carpenter's VMA performance will be circulating on TikTok before the next commercial break.

And if something truly outrageous happens, you don't even need to look for it. The internet will make sure you see it.

Award shows are trying to adapt; is it working?

Award shows have noticed that they're losing relevance, and they've spent years trying to fix it.

Prestigious ceremonies like the Oscars have increasingly borrowed from the VMA format, prioritizing entertainment over the awards themselves. The Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, and Tonys have moved some awards outside the live broadcast to make more room for performances, speeches, and celebrity appearances.

Meanwhile, shows like the VMAs have doubled down on spectacle, with bigger hosts, more elaborate performances, and expensive productions designed to create viral moments.

But this isn’t helping with the problem. Every viral clip reminds audiences that they don't need to tune in. They can just wait for the internet to deliver the highlights.

So, Who Are Award Shows Actually For in 2026?

The answer depends on the type of show. 

For ceremonies like the Oscars, Grammys, Emmys, and Tonys, the future of the show itself is relatively secure. Winning an Oscar can still change someone's career. A Grammy still carries prestige within the music industry.

But the fact that an award can still matter even if the award show doesn't raises an important question: Could we eventually enter an era where these awards still exist, but their ceremonies are no longer major television events?

On the other hand, for shows like the VMAs, the future is less certain. If the primary purpose of your award show isn’t the award but entertainment, and audiences can find that entertainment everywhere else, what reason is there for the show to exist?

But I think there's one thing award shows still offer that the internet can't fully replicate: the feeling of millions of people experiencing the same moment together.

There's a big difference between watching a viral clip of an iconic moment and experiencing it live. You don't know what's coming next. You might witness a career being made, a feud beginning, or a performance that defines an artist's legacy. And you're experiencing it alongside millions of other people.

That's what made award shows so powerful in the first place. And I think that's what they need to rediscover.

The future of award shows isn't about manufacturing more viral moments. It's about making the live event feel important enough that people don't want to wait for the clip.

Two weeks ago, Madonna took home seven VMAs. But the real question isn't whether she deserved those awards. It's whether anyone will remember that she won them. And more importantly, whether anyone felt the need to watch it happen live.