Oscars vs Emmys vs Grammys vs Golden Globes: How Hollywood’s Biggest Awards Differ

The Oscars honour films, the Emmys honour television, the Grammys honour music, and the Golden Globes cover both film and TV. Together they form the core of Hollywood’s awards season, which runs from the Golden Globes on 10 January 2027 to the 99th Academy Awards on 14 March 2027. This guide explains who votes for each award, what they recognise, when they take place and why winning all four major US entertainment prizes, known as an EGOT, is so rare.

What Are the Main Differences Between the Big Awards?

• Oscars (Academy Awards): film; voted by members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; held in March
• Emmys (Primetime Emmy Awards): television; voted by members of the Television Academy; usually held in September
• Grammys: recorded music; voted by members of the Recording Academy; held in early February
• Golden Globes: film and television; voted by a group of entertainment journalists from around the world; held in January
• Tonys: Broadway theatre; voted by theatre professionals; held in June

How Do the Oscars Work?

The Academy Awards are run by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, whose membership is made up of film professionals, from actors and directors to editors and sound engineers. The membership numbers around 10,000 or more, and most categories are nominated by members of the relevant branch: directors nominate directors, actors nominate actors. All voting members can then vote for winners in every category, and Best Picture uses a preferential ballot.

Key dates for the 99th Academy Awards, according to the Academy:

• Governors Awards (honorary Oscars): 15 November 2026
• Shortlists announced: 15 December 2026
• Nominations announced: Thursday 21 January 2027
• Final voting: 25 February to 4 March 2027
• Ceremony: Sunday 14 March 2027, Dolby Theatre, Hollywood

How Do the Emmys Work?

The Primetime Emmy Awards are presented by the Television Academy for US prime-time programming, including streaming series. Members vote within their peer groups, such as performers or writers. Because television is so broad, there are well over 100 categories, and many technical and craft awards are handed out at separate Creative Arts ceremonies in the days before the main televised show.

There are also separate Emmys for daytime television, news and documentaries, sports and international programmes, run by other organisations. The ceremony is usually held in September, after an eligibility year that runs from June to May. Streaming services now win a large share of the major Emmys, a big change from the era when the broadcast networks and cable channels such as HBO dominated. That makes the Emmys a useful barometer of which platforms are investing most heavily in prestige drama and comedy.

How Do the Grammys Work?

The Grammys are run by the Recording Academy, whose voting members are music creators such as performers, songwriters, producers and engineers. Members vote in the four general categories, Album, Record and Song of the Year and Best New Artist, plus a limited number of genre fields.

The 69th Grammy Awards take place on Sunday 7 February 2027 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. In a first, the Recording Academy says the show will be broadcast live on ABC and streamed on Disney+ and Hulu, after many years on CBS. Artists such as Bad Bunny, the subject of our career profile, have shown how the Grammys increasingly recognise Spanish-language music in the general categories.

How Do the Golden Globes Work?

The Golden Globes were long run by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a small group of overseas journalists. After controversy over the group’s lack of diversity and its practices, the association was dissolved in 2023 and the awards are now owned by a private company. Winners are chosen by a larger, more international pool of entertainment journalists, with around 300 or more voters in recent years.

The Globes split many film awards into Drama and Musical or Comedy, giving more films a chance to win, and they also honour television. The 84th Golden Globes take place on Sunday 10 January 2027 at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills.

Do the Golden Globes Predict the Oscars?

Only partly. Because the voters are different, Globes winners often do not go on to win the Oscar. More reliable guides to the Oscars are the guild awards, such as those from the Directors Guild, Producers Guild and Screen Actors Guild (now the Actor Awards), because guild members overlap heavily with Academy voters. Bafta, the British Academy awards held a few weeks before the Oscars, is also closely watched.

What Is an EGOT?

An EGOT means winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony in competitive categories. Only around two dozen people have achieved it, including Audrey Hepburn, Whoopi Goldberg, John Legend, Viola Davis, Jennifer Hudson and Elton John. The rarity reflects how few artists work at the highest level in film, TV, music and theatre at once.

Many acclaimed performers have collected some but not all of the four. Sir Patrick Stewart, whose death at the age of 86 was announced this week, built a career that ran from the Royal Shakespeare Company to Star Trek and the X-Men films, a reminder of how widely the best-known careers can span stage and screen.

When Is Awards Season?

In Hollywood, “awards season” usually means the months from the autumn film festivals to the Oscars in late winter or early spring. Studios open their contenders at festivals such as Venice, Telluride and Toronto in September, release them in cinemas from October to December to qualify, and run campaigns of screenings and advertising aimed at voters.

Critics’ groups announce their prizes in December, followed by the Golden Globes in January, the guild awards and Bafta in February and the Oscars in March. Music has its own season, built around the Grammy nominations in November and the ceremony in February, while television’s main event, the Emmys, sits on its own in early autumn. The Tony Awards for Broadway theatre complete the EGOT calendar in June.

Which Award Is the Most Prestigious?

The Oscar is generally seen as the most prestigious entertainment award in the world, and an Oscar win can increase a film’s box office and an actor’s fees. In music, the Grammy carries similar weight, and in television, the Emmy. The Golden Globes are better known for their relaxed, dinner-party atmosphere and as an early marker in the season.

How Can I Watch the Awards in 2027?

• Golden Globes: 10 January 2027; US broadcast has recently been on CBS, with streaming on Paramount+
• Grammys: 7 February 2027 on ABC, Disney+ and Hulu
• Oscars: 14 March 2027; the ceremony has long been broadcast in the US on ABC
• Emmys: usually September; the broadcast rotates between the major US networks

Check local listings closer to each date, as broadcast and streaming arrangements can change and vary outside the US.

Featured image: Dolby Theater (September 2025), by Busition / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0. Cropped, colour-graded and combined with MediaPavilion branding.

Sources

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — 99th Oscars and Academy Key Dates (2026).
• Recording Academy — 2027 Grammys: Show Air Date and Nominations Announced (2026).
• Golden Globes — The 84th Annual Golden Globes Timetable, Eligibility Rules and Campaign Guidelines Announced (2026).
• Television Academy — Emmy Awards (2026).