The Oscars are moving to the small screen.
This big change is causing a lot of surprise in Hollywood.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has made a long-term agreement with YouTube, giving them the exclusive worldwide rights to the Oscars. This will start in 2029 for the 101st ceremony and go on through 2033. ABC, which has shown the Oscars for many years, will still have the rights to the broadcast until 2028.
The Oscars, including red carpet coverage, behind-the-scenes content, and the Governors Ball, will be shown live and for free on YouTube.
People everywhere can watch, and in the US, YouTube TV subscribers will also have access. There will still be commercials during the Oscars on YouTube, according to people who know about the deal. The people behind the agreement hope this change will make the Oscars more accessible to the Academy’s growing global audience through features like closed captioning and audio tracks in many languages.
“We are excited to start this global partnership with YouTube to be the future home of the Oscars and our year-round programming,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and President Lynette Howell Taylor.
“The Academy is an international organization, and this partnership will let us share our work with the biggest audience possible — which will be helpful for our members and the film community. This collaboration will use YouTube’s wide reach and create new ways to engage with the Oscars and other Academy programming while respecting our history. We can celebrate cinema, inspire new filmmakers, and provide access to our film history on a global scale.”
“Oscars are one of our important cultural institutions, recognizing excellence in storytelling and artistry,” said YouTube CEO Neal Mohan.
“Working with the Academy to bring this celebration of art and entertainment to people around the world will inspire new generations of creativity and fans while staying true to the Oscars’ long history.”
The Academy has been looking for a new broadcasting agreement since early 2025.
During the summer, several unexpected buyers, including NBCUniversal and Netflix, were considered as possible options.
Sources say YouTube paid more than nine figures for the Oscars, which is more than the high eight-figure offers from Disney/ABC and NBCUniversal.
Under the previous contract, Disney was paying around $100 million each year for the Oscars. However, with the show’s ratings dropping, Disney was looking to spend less on the rights.
Some Disney executives were surprised that YouTube, a streaming-only platform and not a traditional broadcast network, won the rights.
There was hope that NBCUniversal might get the rights, but that wasn’t expected.
This is because YouTube doesn’t have the same production setup as other streamers like Netflix or Amazon.
Although YouTube has three years to build a team for producing the show, it’s also possible that the Academy chose this deal because it could take full control of the Oscars.
It’s well known that the Academy and Disney/ABC sometimes disagree on how to best run the Oscars, including the show’s length, which awards to present, and who should host.
With YouTube, which has no time limits, the Oscars can be any length, and the Academy likely has full freedom to do whatever it wants.
“One thing is for sure,” says one insider.
“You could have a six-hour Oscars hosted by MrBeast.”
Some questions remain.
For example, what happens with the Academy’s international distribution deals, which brought in extra money through license fees and ads, apart from the Disney/ABC deal? Does the new YouTube deal cover that?
It’s also unclear how YouTube will measure viewership, since it’s different from traditional TV.
There’s also the issue of how long people watch on YouTube. Although videos on the platform have gotten longer, the chance that people might lose interest and switch to something else on the site is still a concern.
At the same time, the Oscars on network TV are not getting the same ratings as they used to.
Even the famous Will Smith incident in 2022 only brought the show to an average of 16.6 million viewers — the second-lowest number ever after the pandemic-affected 2021 ceremony. This year’s 18.1 million viewers are impressive given the show’s recent history and the decline in traditional TV watching. Still, they’re far less than the record numbers of the past. The most-watched Oscars ever were in 1998 and had 57 million viewers because everyone loved “Titanic.”
For Disney/ABC executives, losing the Oscars to YouTube doesn’t feel as bad as it would have if the event had gone to a direct rival like NBCUniversal. Live TV is still important to Disney/ABC, as they recently got the Grammys from CBS. The company says that in 2027, they will be hosting three big events — the Super Bowl, the Oscars, and the Grammys — all in the same year.
The company stated, “ABC has been the proud home to The Oscars for more than half a century.
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.”
However, some people are confused about what this change might mean for the Oscars, especially with the show celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2028.
Will the ceremony still have the same effect on a streaming service that is known more for original content than for scripted Hollywood movies?
This decision also happens at a tough time for the film industry, as people are still trying to figure out how movies will be shared and watched in the coming years.
With Warner Bros. and its movie plans uncertain, and the rules for showing movies in theaters still being discussed, it’s unclear what an “Oscar movie” will even mean when YouTube takes over the awards.
On the other hand, some people think this move makes sense because YouTube is already the most-watched streaming platform.
It’s likely to become even more powerful by the time the Oscars move there, and it’s a great place to reach a big audience for a major event like the Oscars.
The move from ABC to YouTube is similar to other major changes in the industry, like when Fox took over NFL rights in 1994, even though they didn’t have a sports team at the time.
Fox quickly created Fox Sports and became a big name in the industry. YouTube was already well-known, but the news about the Oscars sends a message that they are becoming a major player in the industry.
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