Streaming, Telecast, or Something in Between: What Are The Future of Awards Shows?
It’s now officially Emmy Awards voting time, marking the start of the television and film awards season. While the Television Academy is ready itself for its Sept. 18 telecast on Fox there are larger conversations occurring throughout the entertainment community around the whos, whats, and wheres of future awards ceremonies, especially with some major changes underway from at least one of the core events.
As audiences on traditional linear TV continue to decline, so does the draw of annual awards shows. Once one of the cornerstones of broadcast television along with live sports and local news, awards shows of all kinds regularly hit all-time ratings lows, from the Oscars to the Grammys to the Tonys to the ESPYS. However, nearly all of them remain inextricably tied to broadcast networks, both for the potential reach and prestige that they bring. But, that could be changing thanks to news announced this week.
On Monday, it was reported that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has finally sold all of the Golden Globes’ assets, rights, and properties. A partnership between Dick Clark Productions and parent company Eldridge Industries purchased the awards show, ending the 79 years of HFPA control.
It’s a change that’s years in the making. The Golden Globes have been plagued by highly publicized troubles of their own making in recent years. Amid controversy regarding the lack of diversity amongst HFPA leadership, long-time Globes broadcast NBC refused to air the ceremony in support of boycotts and the ceremony went on untelevised in 2022. The network agreed to a one-year deal with Dick Clark Productions (DCP) and the HFPA to broadcast this year’s event on NBC and stream it on Peacock, but the Golden Globes didn’t get the shiny welcome back it was hoping for, and the ceremony drew just 6.3 million viewers, an all-time low and a massive fall from grace from the 18.3 million viewers three years prior. Although, the event did see modest gains on streaming.
With the HFPA officially on the way out, the Golden Globes get to answer the question, “What next?” DCP, Eldridge, and company will plan, host, and produce the 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards, which is scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024, but no broadcast partner has been named at this time, though NBC is one of the outlets still in talks for the rights. The Globes are perhaps more positioned for a move to streaming than any other major awards show. Because of the boozy, sharp-tongued reputation of the ceremony, Dick Clark Production might be able to turn the ceremony into a must-see event once again.
But the Globes aren’t alone in needing to make some big decisions about the future of their presentations. From the Academy Awards to the Tonys, ceremonies in recent years have been trying their best to keep up with the changing streaming landscape, trying to figure out the delicate balance of who will watch the ceremony — and how.
Most recently, this past Sunday’s Tony Awards saw the return of a hybrid model. Paramount’s free streaming service Pluto TV hosted the streaming-exclusive “The Tony Awards: Act One” pre-show, which saw many of the “creative arts” awards presented. Then, the official Tony Awards telecast aired on CBS and Paramount+, complete with more than a dozen musical numbers and all of the highest-profile awards. Over 4.3 million people watched the CBS broadcast on Sunday, the strongest ratings performance since 2019’s pre-pandemic ceremony and a 2% increase from 2022 when the Tonys had its first-ever live coast-to-coast broadcast.
Data from Paramount+ also showed that Sunday’s show was the most live-streamed event ever for the platform with a 13% increase compared to 2022. Exact PlutoTV numbers haven’t been disclosed for “Act One,” but Paramount did confirm that it had become the most-watched live event for the platform since its launch in 2013.
While audience growth year-over-year on stream can be deceiving as more and more people cut the cord every year, substantially growing the total addressable market every year. But, with practically unlimited channels and on-demand streaming options, perhaps the growth of awards shows on streaming platforms could be a harbinger of even better results if the ceremonies moved there full-time.
Comparing the Tonys to the Globes: even though its viewing numbers during the 2023 linear broadcast were low, the ceremony saw 793,000 video starts on Peacock, where it could be both livestreamed or watched on-demand, up 245% from the on-demand-only 2021 ceremony. The impact is small at best, but it points to the potential for more streaming options.
Every major awards presentation, though, has been playing musical chairs with linear telecasts, streaming exclusives, and the hybrid model. There isn’t necessarily a “correct” method at the moment, but producers are certainly trying to find one. The People Choice Awards announced this week that not only would it be moving into awards season proper — going from its usual November/early December window to Feb. 18, 2024 — but for the first time, it will also stream live on Peacock in addition to its NBC and E! telecasts.
Meanwhile, the Screen Actors Guild Awards will move exclusively to Netflix for its Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024 ceremony. And the aforementioned Emmy Awards, which continue its eight-year rotating network deal, will be exclusively broadcast live coast-to-coast on Fox come September. Since Fox does not have an in-house subscription streaming service, it is unlikely that the ceremony will stream this year. However, when it makes its way to the other broadcasts networks, those options will almost certainly be increasingly in play.
Instead, producers seem committed to keeping up the confusion, not only missing out on major markets but also leading viewers astray with unclear information. For the 2023 Oscars, Disney+ advertised livestreaming options but only for five countries internationally (Hungary, India, Indonesia, Norway, and the Philippines), whereas, in the U.S., viewers could only watch the live ABC broadcast. While 18.7 million people tuned into the ABC telecast, up 12% from the previous year, Disney+ has also tested large-event livestreaming with “Dancing With the Stars,” “Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium,” and more. So, it is not inconceivable that when the 2024 Academy Awards roll around that Disney will decide to make them available to the increasingly large streaming audiences in addition to those on traditional television.
Broadcast ratings for award shows continue to decline just ratings overall do so as well. With more options than ever to stream live events for both domestic and international viewers, it seems as though a change is coming for these telecasts. Convergence Research shows that there were almost 70 million U.S. households, or 53%, who did not have a traditional pay-TV subscription, and by the end of 2025, it is estimated that number will go up to 72%. In the meantime, award shows are going to continue to test all of their available options — some more extensively than others — with the end result that eventually, we will be able to see all of the opening numbers, acceptance speeches, and forced gracious loser faces on streaming.