Award Show Viewership in 2025: Emmys Up, Oscars Plateau, and Streaming Dominates Youth Engagement

The days of massive live TV audiences for award shows may be permanently behind us. While the 2025 awards season has brought some encouraging numbers, the era of 57 million viewers tuning in — as they did for the 1998 Oscars when Titanic swept 11 awards — appears to be long gone. Yet, not all is bleak. The 77th Primetime Emmy Awards, broadcast on CBS and Paramount+, drew 7.4 million viewers, an 8 percent increase from 2024, marking the event’s biggest TV audience since 2021.

The Emmy broadcast was bolstered by significant wins from breakout hits like The Studio (a record-setting 13 comedy trophies), The Pitt (top drama win over Severance), and Adolescence (with 8 wins, including the youngest-ever male acting winner, Owen Cooper). These moments sparked excitement, but they didn’t reverse the long-term trend of declining live viewership.

According to data compiled by Luminate, which analyzed viewership trends for major shows including the Oscars, Grammys, Golden Globes, Emmys, and more over the past decade, the COVID-19 pandemic marked a major turning point. The 2021 ceremonies, with winners Zooming in from home, were particularly low in engagement — the “nadir” of awards programming. Though there was a post-pandemic recovery bump, five years later, growth has stalled.

The 2025 Oscars saw a modest 1 percent increase over last year, attracting 19.7 million viewers — their fourth consecutive year of growth. However, this figure still pales in comparison to the 35 million who tuned in back in 2016. Meanwhile, the Golden Globes held steady at 9.3 million viewers, following last year’s impressive 50 percent gain, thanks in part to the charismatic hosting of Nikki Glaser, who is already set to return for 2026.

The 2025 Grammys, despite performances from stars like Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé, and Chappell Roan, declined 9 percent year-over-year to 15.4 million viewers, a sharp 38 percent drop from 2016.

However, raw numbers don’t tell the whole story. Demographic shifts reveal that younger viewers are still tuning in — just not via traditional television. The 2025 Oscars recorded a six-year high in the 18-34 demographic, and a 19 percent rise in the 18-49 demo, jumping from 3.9 in 2024 to 4.5. This boost is partially credited to Hulu’s first-time streaming partnership. Similarly, Paramount+’s Emmy viewership rose 76 percent over its dismal 2021 numbers.

Streaming and social media clips are increasingly the go-to platforms for viewers under 45. A Luminate/AP-Norc survey found that 61 percent of adults aged 18 to 44 watched at least one awards show clip in the past year — a stark contrast to full telecasts. The Golden Globes, CMAs, and American Music Awards, all produced by Dick Clark Productions, are adapting to this shift with multi-platform strategies.

Ultimately, the future of awards season engagement lies not in chasing the ghost of 1998 ratings, but in meeting audiences where they are — on streaming platforms, on YouTube, and in viral social media moments. As the traditional broadcast model fades, the industry is learning to redefine success in the age of fragmented digital viewership.