Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe The headline from Forbes told us what we pretty much knew: “The Ratings For Awards Shows Are Tanking.” Indeed, the viewership for the last Emmys, Grammys and Tonys--ceremonies that were almost entirely virtual — and Sunday’s scaled-down Oscars — all have plummeted. But the Forbes headline was from last February, a month before COVID-19 hit the United States. There are multiple explanations behind the pre-pandemic declines: too many award shows, indifferent younger viewers, and work and artists often not widely known. Yet there’s a far more logical reason, and you just might be reading this story on its central catalyst, a smart phone.