Over the past few months, the public’s engagement in broadcasted award shows, or other major live events, has been extremely low. Whether it be the American Music Awards (AMAs), the Grammys, the Golden Globes, or the Super Bowl, very few people have tuned in to watch.

There was over a 50% decline in the number of viewers for these popular award shows. Compared to 2020, the AMAs faced a 50% decrease, with 3.8 million viewers, and the Golden Globes faced a 62% decline, with only 6.9 million viewers. Even the Super Bowl only attracted 96.4 million viewers, which is the lowest it’s been since 2007. This is a drastic loss compared to previous years, and brings historic lows for all of these award show programs. 

Recently, the Grammys was broadcast on CBS, and the viewership dropped from 18.7 million in 2020 to 8.8 million in 2021, which is a 53% decrease. Even though extremely popular artists like Harry Styles, Taylor Swift, and Billie Eilish performed, many people seemed disinterested in the Grammys. 

When asked if she watched the Grammys, NPHS sophomore Anna Oliva said, “I had the Grammys recorded, but didn’t really watch it. I only watched like one song, and didn’t really care about the rest of the awards.” 

Why are fewer people tuning in to all of these award shows? One explanation is that the coronavirus has caused many of them to be reduced in scale, or drawn back. At least some aspects of each award show is virtual, whether it be fans on Zoom, or online performances. This change can make the award shows seem more boring, causing less viewers.

However, the decline in engagement has actually been long term. While it wasn’t as drastic as this year, the amount of Grammy viewers has been decreasing throughout the past decade. Over 20 million viewers have been lost since 2010. This constant decrease in ratings has been seen in all award shows, so the problem can’t just be the pandemic.

Another reason for the lack of engagement is the length of the award shows. Most of them are about three hours, with multiple commercials throughout the broadcast. Instead of sitting through the entire show, it’s much easier to simply look up the winners after. Also, social media makes it so the most popular clips from the award shows can be easily viewed or learned about. Viewers are able to see their favorite stars through social media, like Twitter, Instagram, and Tiktok, instead of waiting during a long, and sometimes dull, award show. 

“I only really heard about what happened at the Grammys through Twitter. I saw BTS lose their nomination and people were really upset,” said sophomore Gabby Silva.

There are multiple award shows coming up, with the Oscars on April 25th, and the Billboard Music Awards on April 28th. Will NPHS students tune in to watch these award shows? Probably not.

“I just don’t have a lot of interest in watching the Oscars this year. I honestly don’t care about it,” said Samvit Singhal, a sophomore at NPHS. 

It seems that most high school students are very disinterested in sitting through an entire award show. Maybe it’s time to innovate these awards to accommodate for the younger generations. Instead of only broadcasting the award shows on major television, the awards could be posted on small clips through social media. This would ensure greater engagement from the younger generation, specifically students at NPHS.