The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that the Academy Awards telecast will transition from broadcast television to YouTube beginning with the 101st Oscars ceremony in 2029. The change ends a long-running partnership with ABC, which has televised the awards show for decades.
Under the new agreement, YouTube will serve as the exclusive home for the Oscars broadcast in the United States. The Academy said the move is intended to reach global audiences and provide more flexibility in how viewers access the show.
Shift from traditional broadcast to digital platform
The Oscars have been broadcast on ABC since 1961, making the upcoming transition a significant departure from more than six decades of network television exposure. YouTube, owned by Alphabet’s Google, offers live streaming worldwide, allowing viewers across multiple regions to watch the event without a traditional cable or satellite subscription.
Under the agreement, YouTube will carry more than just the Oscars broadcast itself, which generated about $150 million in revenue for the Academy in the fiscal year ending June 30, largely through its television rights deal with Disney. The platform will also stream a range of related programming, including red carpet coverage, behind-the-scenes content, the nominations announcement, the Governors Awards, the Oscars Nominees Luncheon, the Student Academy Awards, and the Scientific and Technical Awards.
Additional content will include interviews, educational initiatives, podcasts, and other Academy programming. Separately, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will partner with Google Arts & Culture to expand digital access to select exhibitions and assist in digitizing parts of the Academy’s extensive collection.
The Academy has said that additional details about the distribution plans and how the YouTube broadcast will be presented will be shared closer to the 2029 ceremony.
Featured image courtesy: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences