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The Oscars have long been defined by the red carpet, but in 2026, the story extends far beyond it.
While the 98th Academy Awards drew 17.86 million viewers across ABC and Hulu, down 9% year-on-year, the cultural impact of the ceremony moved in the opposite direction. Earned Media Value (EMV) surrounding the top five films on social media surged by 230%, while reach increased by 131%.
The implication is clear. Audience attention is not disappearing, it is redistributing from live broadcast to social media. And within that shift, a new layer of influence has become impossible to ignore – creators.
While the ceremony itself remains one of the most powerful cultural stages globally, the way its moments travel, scale, and generate value is being fundamentally reshaped by the creator economy.
For platforms like Netflix, Apple TV and HBO, whose films saw the most success at this year’s awards, engagement and EMV spiked greatly.
Published On: March 19, 2026
What makes the Oscars unique has not changed.
This year’s ceremony saw One Battle After Another dominate with six awards, while Sinners followed closely with four, cementing both films at the centre of global attention.
But what has changed is what happens next.
Where historically, value was concentrated in the broadcast and subsequent press cycle, clips are now captured in real time across social media and reframed through commentary, reaction, and storytelling where audiences are actively engaged.
The top-performing films at the 2026 Oscars were led by Sinners, generating an EMV of £115.2M.
No film better illustrates the scale of the Oscars than Sinners.
Generating £115.2M in EMV, it was one of the defining titles of the night, driven primarily by press, which accounted for 81% of its total impact. Major publishers such as ABC News alone generated over £14.5M in EMV, reinforcing the continued dominance of mainstream media at moments of peak cultural attention.
Creators added a second layer of distribution that allowed Sinners to move beyond traditional coverage and into more fragmented, highly engaged digital audiences.
Film-focused blogger Goosebumps Cinema generated over £550K in EMV across four posts. Meanwhile, a single piece of content from social media personality Reece Feldman, capturing Michael B. Jordan’s award-winning moment, generated £253K in EMV and over 233K engagements.
These figures represent a shift in how cultural moments are sustained.
While One Battle After Another (£58.2M EMV) followed a similar press-heavy structure, with over 91% of value driven by editorial, its creator ecosystem revealed a different nuance.
It was distributed across a broader network of filmmakers, reviewers, and film-focused influencers, collectively generating £3.96M in EMV.
@ibarrechejavier Mejor Película – One Battle After Another Director – Paul Thomas Anderson Actor – Michael B Jordan Actriz – Jessie Buckley Actor de reparto – Stellan Skarsgård Actriz de reparto – Teyana Taylor Guion original – Sinners Guion adaptado – One Battle After Another Película internacional – Sentimental Value Película animada – Kpop Demon Hunters Documental – La vecina perfecta Canción – Golden Banda sonora – Sinners Casting – Sinners Vestuario – Frankenstein Maquillaje – Frankenstein Diseño de producción – Frankenstein Fotografía – Sinners Edición – OBAA Sonido – F1 Efectos visuales – AVATAR Quizá me equivoque (seguramente me equivoco en varios) pero todo pinta a que así va a terminar la ceremonia. A ver con qué sorpresa salen. #oscars #academyawards #predicciones #oscares
This reflects a different model of creator influence around credibility.
Netflix’s performance reveals a different dynamic.
Across KPop Demon Hunters (£53.3M EMV) and Frankenstein (£13.1M EMV), the platform operated within a heavily press-driven ecosystem, with editorial accounting for over 90% of total EMV.
But within that structure, creators continued to play a highly specific role. Not in driving volume, but in delivering engagement and earned media value.
For KPop Demon Hunters, two creators in Yod Yakuzaboss and Javier Ibarreche, generated a combined £843K in EMV.
This demonstrates that in environments where press dominates scale, creators can still generate impact through highly engaged audiences.
A similar pattern emerged with Frankenstein, where a single post from digital news publisher Pubity generated £451K in EMV.
@thecinematicuniverse AHHHH THEY COOKED 😭😭🙏🏼 #oscarspostcontest #oscars #huntrix #kpopdemonhunters #thecinematicuniverse
Apple TV’s F1 presents a contrasting model.
With £8.6M in EMV and only 49.3% driven by press, it relied far less on traditional editorial coverage than its counterparts.
Instead, value was distributed across sports channels and creators with highly engaged fanbases.
The Formula One organisation itself generated £1.85M in EMV, accounting for over one-fifth of total impact. Alongside this, creators and journalists contributed key moments of visibility, including a single post from blogger Houson猴姆 generating £547K.
Without the same level of press dominance, creators are not just amplifiers, they are crucial to how visibility is built globally.
What emerges from the 2026 Oscars is a clear evolution in how EMV is generated.
Creators are a crucial part of the engagement and visibility infrastructure. They translate moments into platform-native formats and redistribute them across audiences that traditional media cannot fully reach.
Crucially, they extend the lifecycle of cultural moments.
What was once a single peak, the red carpet, the award speech, the press cycle, is now a continuous curve of visibility – creators are who sustain it.
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Why is social media becoming more important for film awards like the Oscars?
Audience attention is shifting from live broadcasts to social platforms. While live viewership may decline, social media allows moments from the Oscars to be shared, reshaped, and consumed on-demand, significantly increasing overall reach, engagement, and cultural impact.
What role do creators play in promoting films during awards season?
Creators help amplify and extend the visibility of films by producing platform-native content such as reactions, commentary, and storytelling. They reach highly engaged audiences and sustain conversations beyond the initial event, contributing to long-term cultural relevance.
Which platforms drove the most impact for films during the Oscars?
A mix of platforms drove impact during the Oscars. Traditional media outlets generated the largest visibility, while platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram enabled creators to amplify moments, drive engagement, and extend reach across global audiences.
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