The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced last week that The Oscars will be departing ABC and will instead be streamed on YouTube starting in 2029.
Last week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that the Academy Awards will cease being televised on ABC in 2029 and will instead be streamed on YouTube starting in 2029.
Before then, the Oscars will continue to be broadcast on ABC through 2028, which will mark the 100th anniversary of the annual ceremony.
According to reports from AP, beginning in 2029, YouTube will retain global rights to streaming the Oscars up until 2033. Beyond just the actual Academy Awards, YouTube will effectively be the new home to the red-carpet coverage, the Governors Awards, and the Oscar nominations announcement.
“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,” said academy chief executive Bill Kramer and academy president Lynette Howell Taylor.
“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.”
The transition to streaming on YouTube “will be beneficial for our Academy members and the film community,” Kramer and Taylor stated.
Major award shows, sports events, concerts, and more have been partnering with streaming platforms in recent years. Many households have moved away from basic cable packages to instead pay for streaming service packages.
This new YouTube deal marks the first of the big four award ceremonies – Emmys, Grammys, Oscars, and Tonys – to be completely streamed off of broadcast television and exclusively online. The Oscars is one of the most watched non-NFL broadcasts every year, and now Google will be in charge of maintaining its viewership.
The Academy Awards will be streaming for free all over the world on YouTube as well as on YouTube TV, which requires a subscription. The stream will be available in a multitude of languages as well as closed-captioning.
“The Oscars are one of our essential cultural institutions, honoring excellence in storytelling and artistry,” said Neal Mohan, chief executive of YouTube.
“Partnering with the Academy to bring this celebration of art and entertainment to viewers all over the world will inspire a new generation of creativity and film lovers while staying true to the Oscars’ storied legacy.”
ABC, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company, has been the home of the Oscars broadcast for practically its entire history. NBC first televised the Oscars in 1953 before ABC picked back up the rights for it in 1961. Between 1971 and 1975 the show was aired on NBC, but aside from that, the Oscars have been on ABC.
“ABC has been the proud home to The Oscars for more than half a century,” the network said in a statement.
“We look forward to the next three telecasts, including the show’s centennial celebration in 2028, and wish the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences continued success.”
The 2025 Academy Awards was watched by 19.7 million viewers on ABC, which was an increase from the year before. It annually remains one of the biggest TV broadcasts of the year.
The film academy stated that they opted to show the awards show on YouTube over other streaming services like Netflix or Peacock to secure a platform that had a wide-ranging and massive audience, which is also accessible.
According to Nielson, YouTube accounted for 12.9% of all television and streaming content consumed this year in November, with popular streaming service Netflix ranking second with an 8.3%.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
