Are film awards still relevant?

Oscars telecast rating has fallen seven percent in 2025 after years of growth prior. This has caused critics to debate whether award shows are popularity contests, with the film industry struggling with profits on large budget productions.

There is still clear interest for award shows, especially among the film landscape with dozens of film award held on an annual basis. Furthermore, annual film festival such as Cannes are aired as a celebration of film suggesting a relevance for these shows as promotion for films that may have not had the chance for global appeal.

On the surface, award shows still have relevance as there would not be an ‘award season’ or primetime television slots for these shows without assumed relevance. Whether these award shows are relevant comes down to where a person’s definition of relevance lies.

For some, popularity could equate to the relevance of something, which in the case of award shows is slightly dropping due to less viewership overall, despite the Oscars boasting 18m viewers alone.

Relevance could also refer to the position of award shows in the cultural zeitgeist of film. It has been queried whether award shows do truly represent everyone like people with disabilities, international films or low budget/independent filmmaking. While categories for cultural productions such as best international film exist in the popular Oscars, as well as multiple international film festivals dedicated to culture, globally it still seems as if Hollywood films garner the most recognition from award shows.

Similarly, there are award shows on a smaller scale that aim to strive for disabilities in filmmaking like the Oska Bright Film Festival as well as awards for independent cinema such as the Film Independent Spirit Awards. However, these award festivals gather a relatively niche following that is only made aware due to specified interests from attendees or relation to the awards themselves.

Award shows are not disappearing anytime soon as the film industry desires to celebrate the creative effort on display each year. Additionally, cinephiles and casual fans like to be vindicated that their favorites of the year are awarded for their outstanding filmmaking.

To remain relevant award shows have had to adapt new tactics in engaging younger audiences whether that is through spectacle, social media channels or accompanying performances. Whether they have been able to retain relevance is a question that will linger for years to come.