The great American love affair with award shows may be ending. That’s the conclusion you might draw after looking at recent television ratings for shows like the Emmys, SAG Awards, and Golden Globe awards. But what’s really at play is that, like with other forms of media, the Internet is starting to steal the show.

Rather than sitting through hours of pomp and circumstance, more American entertainment lovers seem to be heading online to get their fix. Most likely it’s because they can catch the evening’s highlights — teary speeches, Adrien Brody’s fiery kiss, Roberto Benigni’s giddiness, Letterman’s Uma-Oprah tension, the Gold Amex dress — on demand for their water cooler discussions.

Let’s check out the numbers. The 2008 Emmy Awards averaged 12.2 million viewers, down 6% and the lowest ratings ever for an Emmy telecast. Yet the day after the awards, 4.6 million people flocked to Yahoo! TV and generated 103 million page views (nearly doubled year over year). This year’s SAG Awards drew the smallest audience since TBS and TNT began airing them together in 2006 –- with 5.3 million viewers, down 12% from 2007. The next day, 4.1 million people flooded Yahoo! Movies for its best and worst dressed gallery and checked out 83 million pages. And although the 3-hour Golden Globes won a coveted Sunday night time slot, this year’s star-studded telecast drew the lowest ratings in 13 years –- 14.6 million viewers, down from 20 million the year before. The next day, 7.2 million people descended on omg!, taking in an average of about 40 page views per person, driven mainly by an insatiable appetite for photos.

So all is not lost — we’re still just as obsessed with celebrities and their red carpet fashion foibles. Possibly more so than ever. But we’re just turning to a different screen to view it — during and after the show. So don’t cancel your Oscars party on Sunday. Just make sure you have a laptop next to the popcorn.

Sibyl Goldman
GM, Yahoo! Entertainment

There’s no denying that celebrity news draws a crowd. And we’re particularly proud of the size of our omg! crowd after only a year. Handily beating TMZ many months, omg! has risen to the top of the Comscore heap in record time with our addictive take on celebrity news. From red carpets to hotties and baby bumps galore, omg! has covered Hollywood at its best and most embarrassing moments.

And what a year it’s been… two million user comments, 2,000 photo stories, and the launch of “Goddess,” our new celebrity mom blog. And Hollywood did not disappoint — we had an endless stream of material to work with. Britney bottomed out, rebounded and went on vacation with Mel Gibson. Halle, Angelina, Tori, Jessica, Jamie Lynn, J Lo, Nicole and Christina broke out the bugaboos for new babies. Meanwhile, Paris and LiLo spent some QT in the county jail, Amy Winehouse wandered the streets of London, and Heidi and Spencer broke up, got back together, and went to every party around town.

Phew! Here’s to another year of celebrity break-ups and shake-ups, fashion faux pas, tiny dogs, big sunglasses, time in the clink, and even bigger handbags!

Sibyl Goldman
GM, Yahoo! Entertainment

Paris has been sent back to the slammer! omg! Britney’s wearing a fedora, leg warmers and short shorts? omg! Jessica Simpson and John Mayer broke up again? omg!

I’d like to introduce you all to our new site, omg.yahoo.com. That’s right, the site is called omg!. We’re all about what you crave: the dish on Lindsay, Paris, Britney and the Jessicas.

Yahoo! Entertainment is launching this destination for fun entertainment news and scoop so peeps can complement their daily celebrity blog fix (c’mon, we know where you’re surfing everyday) with a site that’s easy to use, well-designed, and not so super-mean.

We’ll be tracking celebrity trends from Big Sunglasses to Tanzillas (stars who like tanning a little too much) and everything in between with articles, photos, and videos. Our content comes from partnerships we’ve formed with Access Hollywood (who will provide us with the latest videos and articles) and x17 Online (providing photos), as well as other news feeds and photo agencies.

Our mission was to create a place that will capitalize on the massive interest in celebrity news and be fun, unique, innovative and still simple enough for any fan to easily determine if Paris is behind bars or not and let us know what they think about that situation.

omg! is very much a work in progress, but since the appetite for this kind of news continues to surge, we wanted to launch the site as soon as possible. We have an aggressive plan for adding in even more excellent Yahoo! products in the coming months. Think Bix, Flickr and Messenger. And check back soon for our badge.

While we continue to “accessorize” the site with enhancements and features, do what the stars do: take a coffee break, post comments on any of the assets, consider laying off the bronzer and try to stay out of jail.

Sibyl Goldman
Executive Producer, Yahoo! Entertainment