The Oscars Are Exiting ABC and Stream on YouTube Beginning in the Year 2029.
The Oscars ceremony will commence airing only on the global video platform in 2029, signaling the latest substantial shift in Hollywood.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed the news on this week, confirming that it finalized a multi-year deal awarding YouTube the unique international license to the Oscars until 2033.
The awards show, which is planned for 15 March, has been televised for 50 years on the traditional network. Commencing in 2029, the event will be accessible as a free live stream on the digital platform.
This is one more major restructuring in the entertainment world, which is navigating studio sales and mergers, along with drastic production cuts.
"The Academy is an worldwide body, and this partnership will permit us to increase availability to the work of the Academy to the most extensive international crowd possible - which will be beneficial for our Academy members and the movie industry," stated the Academy's executives in a release.
For many years, viewership of the televised event have declined, although there was a small rise in 2025, with a notable portion of youthful audiences tuning in from mobile devices and computers.
In a related comment, YouTube's CEO described the Oscars "among our vital cultural institutions" and added that working with the Academy would "spark a younger cohort of artistic expression and cinema enthusiasts while adhering to the Oscars' storied history".
The broadcast network, which has televised the ceremony since 1976, said that it was excited "to the upcoming broadcasts" it will continue to air.
The move coincides with large entertainment companies deal with challenging merger discussions. These potential deals were viewed as problematic for an industry that has experienced significant downsizing over the last few years.
Like big production houses, cable networks have encountered challenges as the public has increasingly opted for streaming services instead.
YouTube winning the license to the Oscars clearly signals that the dominance of online services will persist to grow.
