The Academy Awards to Depart Broadcast TV and Stream on the Video Platform Starting in the Year 2029.
The Oscars ceremony will begin airing only on the global video platform in the year 2029, representing the newest significant change in the film industry.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed the news on this week, indicating that it entered into a extended contract granting YouTube the exclusive global rights to the Oscars through 2033.
The awards show, scheduled for March 15th, has aired for 50 years on ABC. Starting in 2029, the event will be viewable in real-time without charge on the digital platform.
This is a further substantial restructuring in Hollywood, which is grappling with studio sales and mergers, coupled with drastic production cuts.
"Our Academy represents an worldwide body, and this alliance will allow us to increase availability to the work of the Academy to the most extensive international crowd attainable - which will be positive for our Academy members and the film community," said the Academy's executives in a release.
Throughout a long period, viewership of the awards show have fallen, though there was a slight uptick in 2025, with a significant number of youthful audiences watching from cell phones and computers.
In a separate statement, the video platform's chief executive referred to the Oscars "a key fundamental cultural institutions" and added that partnering with the Academy would "motivate a younger cohort of innovation and cinema enthusiasts while adhering to the Oscars' celebrated heritage".
The broadcast network, which has streamed the awards since the mid-1970s, stated that it was excited "to the upcoming broadcasts" it will retain rights for.
This decision follows large entertainment companies deal with challenging merger discussions. Such proposals were seen as problematic for an industry that has experienced significant downsizing over the recent period.
Similar to big production houses, traditional TV channels have faced issues as the viewers has increasingly opted for digital platforms as an alternative.
The platform securing broadcasting rights to the Academy Awards clearly signals that the dominance of digital platforms will carry on increasing.
