The Oscars 2026 ratings just hit a four-year low. Do we just not care about Hollywood anymore – or have they just never taken the time to truly care about us?
OPINION
On Monday, about 18 million people around the world tuned in to watch the 98th Academy Awards – down nine percent from last year. Crazy to think that just 10 years ago, more than 34 million people had their eyes glued to the TV to watch the Oscars.
I’m one of those people who stopped tuning in – because a) I don’t have a Disney+ subscription to watch it and b) I no longer watch nearly enough movies to even know who to root for.
But I do know that Michael B Jordan won best actor and the internet felt zero remorse for his contender, Timothée Chalamet, because of his snide remarks against opera and ballet. That the Oscars got intense backlash for cutting off KPop Demon Hunters songwriter Yu Han Lee during his acceptance speech. (The man had a piece of paper with him, for crying out loud! Let him finish!) That actor Javier Bardem declared “No to war and free Palestine” while presenting an award.
How? All thanks to social media. I LOVE watching snippets of the Oscars that are relevant, and I also love it when creators give their hot-takes, opinions, or even just simply react to it with memes. And so do millions of others.
While the TV ratings tanked, social media impressions during the ceremony were actually up 42%, hitting more than 181 million, according to ABC. In the past year alone, Youtube said there have been more than three billion views of Oscar-related content on its platform.
It’s not really that the audience doesn’t care about the Oscars anymore (okay, maybe there’s a little truth to that) – but it’s also about how we consume content, and what we want, has drastically changed.
And the Academy knows this because in 2029, it’s moving the Oscars from ABC – its home since 1976 – to YouTube.
The Oscars Can’t Seem to Read the Room… But Can Hollywood?
The 2025 Nostradamus report, published by Sweden’s Göteborg Film Festival, says “Hollywood itself may be losing significance as a cultural idea”.
It attributes America’s weakening global mainstream appeal to the “political realities” in the country, which then gives room for storytelling from other voices. (The section of the report is aptly named ‘Sunset Hollywood, Hello World’).
And honestly? I do agree with this. There’s the rise of competition from other parts of the world now, something that Hollywood probably didn’t see coming. Korean film and TV has expanded globally – Parasite won Best Picture in 2020, Squid Games became Netflix’s most-watched series and at this year’s Oscars, “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters won Best Original Song.
Audiences now have access to storytelling with strong social commentary, something more relevant to them, or just simply beyond the “American dream” – which somehow always involved a house with a white picket fence or a high-paying job at a marketing or media agency in NYC.
What’s really losing relevance is the idea of the Hollywood A-Lister – the too-shiny, too-perfect headline-grabber that, once upon a time could sell the socks off a magazine simply by having a new haircut.
It would also be remiss of me not to mention there’s a distrust towards Hollywood now. What with the rolling cycle of scandals that have emerged in the recent decade – Weinstein, the Diddy allegations, Dan Schneider allegations (the Nickelodeon producer facing allegations on the mistreatment of child actors like Amanda Bynes and Drake Bell), and most recently, the absolute shit show that is the Epstein files.
I don’t know about you, but this aspirational, glitz and glam, picture-perfect image I once had of Hollywood is well and truly gone. Its days of gatekeeping clout are numbered – if it hasn’t fully gone yet.
But GOOD STORIES Still SELL
If Hollywood actually reads the room, they can produce movies that make people go to the cinema.
There was Crazy Rich Asians in 2018 – absolutely life-changing for an Asian girlie like me to see representation on the big screen. The film had a $30 million budget yet it grossed $238 million worldwide.
In 2023, Greta Gerwig’s reimagination of Barbie – a symbol that used to be so out of touch of what a woman should be and made it relatable to today’s audience – grossed $1.4 billion in the box office. Critics (including myself) still think the Academy snubbed this movie, after Greta didn’t win Best Director and Margot Robbie lost Best Actress.
For 2025, Ryan Coogler’s Sinners grossed $369 million worldwide and picked up four Oscars, including Autumn Durald Arkapaw – the first ever female to win Best Cinematography in 98 years!
On TV, Netflix’s Adolescence became the streamer’s best-performing limited series ever. No A-list actors. Each episode shot in single continuous takes. But it tackled one of the most pressing issues of this generation – the manosphere.
This year, Heated Rivalry made its debut with two unknown actors. Who knew a Canadian queer hockey romance would be the next thing all the straight women would be obsessed with! But its fan-driven social media campaign is what made it one of HBO Max’s biggest shows yet.
What sets these storytellers apart is that they’re culturally resonant. They know exactly who these stories are for, making it easier to tap into these communities.
Fandoms Want Something Real, Attainable and Relational
Like I mentioned earlier, people are over this unattainable image that Hollywood projects. As cheesy, overused, or cringey as this sounds, audiences do want something authentic now.
But they also want to feel they have a relationship with their “idols”, for better or for worse.
Enter ‘parasocial’ relationships – it was so culturally relevant that Cambridge Dictionary named it its 2025 Word of the Year.
Parasocial relationships are a one-sided emotional bond you feel with someone you’ve never met – particularly celebrities. (Like if you cried when Taylor Swift got engaged. Or feel overprotective around criticisms against BTS.)
Taylor Swift and BTS are celebrities that still hold genuine cultural power because they know how to build on the parasocial relationships with their fandom. Taylor leaves Easter Eggs into every album for her fans to decode; her Eras Tour had its own dress codes and friendship bracelets. BTS built ARMY as a globally coordinated fandom with its own philanthropic and streaming strategies. They’ve built engaged communities that make their fans feel a sense of belonging.
Kimberly S Reed said it perfectly in her Rolling Stones piece: “People are not choosing where to work, where to spend or what to support based on hierarchy, tradition or reputation anymore. They are choosing based on one fundamental question: ‘Do I feel like I belong here?’”
__________________________________
About the Author:
Vivien Beduya is a video journalist and content creator at Capsule. She’s most passionate about inclusive storytelling that centres underserved communities, women’s health, mental health, travel, food and the ways technology shapes our everyday lives. She made a bold (and terrifying) career switch to journalism in her late 20s after years across banking, insurance and travel.
She’s worked for NewstalkZB and TVNZ’s youth news platform Re: News, and has also been published on 1News, NZ Herald, and Stuff. She was selected by the Asia New Zealand Foundation as an emerging journalist for the Splice Beta 2025 delegation in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Vivien lives in Auckland with her partner, close(ish) to the beach, and is always on the hunt for Auckland’s best affordable eats.
You can read other stories by Vivien here or email her here.
