The Oscars Are Heading To YouTube In 2029

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences made the shock announcement today that it has agreed to a new media partnership that will move the Oscars from broadcast television to YouTube from 2029, ending ABC’s 52-year run as the ceremony’s home.

ABC will continue airing the show through the 100th Academy Awards in 2028, after which YouTube will hold exclusive global rights through 2033.

Starting with the 2029 Oscars, the ceremony will stream live and free worldwide on YouTube, with YouTube TV serving as the U.S. pay-TV option. But the deal goes far beyond a single night. YouTube will be the Academy’s new primary distribution platform for a wide range of programming, including nomination announcements, red carpet coverage, the Governors Awards, the Student Academy Awards, the Scientific and Technical Awards, filmmaker interviews, podcasts, and educational initiatives.

Academy CEO Bill Kramer and president Lynette Howell Taylor said in a release:

We are thrilled to enter into a multifaceted global partnership with YouTube to be the future home of the Oscars and our year-round Academy programming. The Academy is an international organization, and this partnership will allow us to expand access to the work of the Academy to the largest worldwide audience possible — which will be beneficial for our Academy members and the film community. This collaboration will leverage YouTube’s vast reach and infuse the Oscars and other Academy programming with innovative opportunities for engagement while honoring our legacy. We will be able to celebrate cinema, inspire new generations of filmmakers and provide access to our film history on an unprecedented global scale.

The deal reflects the Academy’s increasing focus on global reach and digital distribution as linear TV audiences continue to shrink. Nielsen data shows that Oscars viewership has declined by more than half over the past decade. After routinely attracting around 40 million U.S. viewers in the early 2010s, the broadcast fell to the low 30 millions by the mid-2010s, reaching a pandemic-era low in the early 2020s. The ceremony’s popularity has since recovered slightly, but still sits at a fraction of its former audience.

Whether the Oscars’ migration to a free, globally accessible platform reinvigorates the show or reshapes its identity remains to be seen, but the move marks a clear turning point in how theatrical film culture intersects with online media.