The Oscars Will Leave ABC and Broadcast Live on the Video Platform Beginning in 2029.
The Oscars ceremony will commence broadcasting solely on the global video platform in the year 2029, marking the most recent major shift in Hollywood.
The organization behind the Oscars declared the decision on Wednesday, indicating that it signed a multi-year deal awarding YouTube the unique international license to the Oscars up to 2033.
The awards show, scheduled for 15 March, has been televised for a half a century on ABC. Starting in 2029, the event will be viewable live and for free on YouTube.
This is another significant upheaval in the entertainment world, which is grappling with studio sales and mergers, along with drastic production cuts.
"The Academy is an worldwide body, and this partnership will allow us to broaden reach to the work of the Academy to the biggest global viewership attainable - which will be beneficial for our film artists and the movie industry," said the Academy's executives in a announcement.
Throughout a long period, audience numbers of the ceremony have declined, even if there was a slight uptick in 2025, with a notable portion of Gen Z and millennial watchers tuning in from cell phones and computers.
In a related comment, YouTube's CEO called the Oscars "a key fundamental pillars of culture" and said that working with the Academy would "inspire a fresh wave of creativity and film lovers while staying true to the Oscars' celebrated heritage".
The broadcast network, which has streamed the ceremony since 1976, said that it was eagerly anticipating "to the upcoming broadcasts" it will retain rights for.
This shift coincides with major studios face challenging merger discussions. Both options were viewed as concerning for an business that has witnessed significant downsizing over the recent period.
Similar to major studios, traditional TV channels have encountered challenges as the audience has shifted towards streaming services instead.
YouTube winning the license to the Oscars strongly indicates that dependence on online services will carry on to grow.
