In a seismic shift for one among tv’s marquee occasions, the Academy Awards will depart ABC and start streaming on YouTube starting in 2029, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences introduced Wednesday.
ABC will proceed to broadcast the annual ceremony by means of 2028. That 12 months will mark the one hundredth Oscars.
However beginning in 2029, YouTube will retain international rights to streaming the Oscars by means of 2033. YouTube will successfully be the house to all issues Oscars, together with red-carpet protection, the Governors Awards, and the Oscar nominations announcement.
“We’re thrilled to enter right into a multifaceted international partnership with YouTube to be the longer term residence of the Oscars and our year-round Academy programming,” stated academy chief government Invoice Kramer and academy president Lynette Howell Taylor. “The Academy is a global group, and this partnership will enable us to develop entry to the work of the Academy to the most important worldwide viewers doable — which will likely be helpful for our Academy members and the movie neighborhood.”
Whereas main award reveals have added streaming partnerships, the YouTube deal marks the primary of the large 4 — the Oscars, Grammys, Emmys, and Tonys — to utterly jettison broadcast tv. It places one of the crucial watched non-NFL broadcasts within the palms of Google. YouTube boasts some 2 billion viewers.
The Academy Awards will stream without spending a dime worldwide on YouTube, along with YouTube TV subscribers. It will likely be out there with audio tracks in lots of languages, along with closed captioning.
Monetary phrases weren’t disclosed.
“The Oscars are one among our important cultural establishments, honoring excellence in storytelling and artistry,” stated Neal Mohan, chief government of YouTube. “Partnering with the academy to carry this celebration of artwork and leisure to viewers everywhere in the world will encourage a brand new technology of creativity and movie lovers whereas staying true to the Oscars’ storied legacy.”
The Walt Disney Co.-owned ABC has been the published residence to the Oscars for nearly its whole historical past. NBC first televised the Oscars in 1953, however ABC picked up the rights in 1961. Other than a interval between 1971 and 1975, when NBC once more aired the present, the Oscars have been on ABC.
“ABC has been the proud residence to The Oscars for greater than half a century,” the community stated in a press release. “We sit up for the following three telecasts, together with the present’s centennial celebration in 2028, and need the Academy of Movement Image Arts and Sciences continued success.”
The 2025 Academy Awards have been watched by 19.7 million viewers on ABC, a slight enhance from the 12 months earlier than. That continues to be one of many greatest TV broadcasts of the 12 months, although lower than half of Oscar rankings at their peak. In 1999, greater than 55 million watched James Cameron’s “Titanic” win greatest image.
The movie academy, in selecting YouTube over different choices similar to Netflix or NBC Universal/Peacock, chosen a platform with a wide-ranging and large viewers however one with out as a lot of a longtime manufacturing infrastructure.
Nonetheless, extra individuals — particularly younger individuals — watch YouTube than some other streaming platform. Based on Nielsen, YouTube accounted for 12.9% of all tv and streaming content material consumed in November. Netflix ranked second with an 8.3% market share.
—By Jake Coyle, AP movie author
