In a decision that will reshape how the world watches cinema’s biggest night, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced an unprecedented deal that brings the Oscars to YouTube beginning in 2029. The multi-year agreement runs through 2033 and marks the end of an era for ABC, which has broadcast the ceremony for decades.
This isn’t just a platform change—it’s a fundamental reimagining of what the Oscars can be in the streaming age.
Free, Global Access Changes Everything
Starting with the 101st Academy Awards in 2029, the Oscars will stream live and completely free on YouTube to viewers worldwide. This includes not just the main ceremony but red carpet coverage, behind-the-scenes content, and even the exclusive Governors Ball. YouTube TV subscribers in the United States will also have access to the broadcast.
The deal emphasizes accessibility in ways traditional television never could, with closed captioning and audio tracks available in multiple languages from day one. For an organization that calls itself international, this represents the Academy’s most significant step toward truly global reach.
“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 CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Lynette Howell Taylor in a joint statement. “This partnership will allow us to expand access to the work of the Academy to the largest worldwide audience possible.”
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan echoed this vision, describing the Oscars as “one of our essential cultural institutions” and promising the partnership would “inspire a new generation of creativity and film lovers while staying true to the Oscars’ storied legacy.”
The Numbers Behind the Deal
The financial details tell their own story about shifting industry dynamics. According to insiders, YouTube paid well into nine figures for the rights—significantly outbidding Disney/ABC and NBCUniversal, both of which submitted high eight-figure offers.
Under its most recent contract, Disney was paying approximately $100 million annually for the Oscars. However, with ratings steadily declining over recent years, Disney/ABC reportedly wanted to reduce their licensing fees rather than increase them. YouTube’s willingness to pay more for a property with shrinking traditional viewership signals their confidence in reaching audiences that linear television can no longer capture.
The bidding process attracted both expected and unconventional players throughout 2025, including NBCUniversal and Netflix. But Disney executives were reportedly surprised when YouTube—a pure streaming platform without traditional broadcast infrastructure—ultimately secured the deal.
Creative Freedom Without Time Constraints
One of the most intriguing aspects of the YouTube deal is what it means for the ceremony itself. For years, the Academy and ABC occasionally clashed over fundamental decisions about the show’s length, which awards to present during the telecast, and host selection.
On YouTube, those constraints evaporate. There are no commercial breaks to accommodate, no rigid three-hour window to maintain for affiliate stations, and no pressure to wrap up before prime time ends. The Academy now has complete creative control to produce the Oscars exactly as they envision it.
“They can do whatever they want,” one insider told reporters. “You can have a six-hour Oscars hosted by MrBeast.”
While that comment was likely tongue-in-cheek, it illustrates the dramatic shift in possibilities. The ceremony could expand to honor more categories in full, include longer tribute segments, or experiment with interactive elements that YouTube’s platform enables. The question is whether viewers will stay engaged without the traditional structure of network television guiding the experience.
The Production Challenge
YouTube’s lack of traditional live event production infrastructure raises legitimate questions about execution. Unlike Netflix and Amazon, which have invested heavily in producing live sports and entertainment, YouTube will essentially be starting from scratch.
The company does have three years to build a team and develop the technical capabilities needed to produce an event of this magnitude. But it’s also possible the Academy chose YouTube precisely because it allows them to take over full production themselves, free from network interference.
This arrangement could fundamentally change the Oscars’ identity. Without network executives weighing in on pacing, content, or commercial considerations, the ceremony becomes purely the Academy’s vision—for better or worse.
Unanswered Questions and Uncertain Metrics
Several significant questions remain about how this transition will work in practice. The Academy currently has international distribution deals that generate additional licensing fees and advertising revenue beyond the ABC agreement. Will YouTube’s global reach replace that revenue, or will the Academy be leaving money on the table?
Measurement presents another challenge. Linear television has straightforward Nielsen ratings that provide clear success metrics. YouTube viewership data exists, but it operates differently than traditional TV ratings. How will the industry judge whether the YouTube Oscars are successful? Will concurrent live viewers matter, or total views over time? These definitions will shape how Hollywood perceives the ceremony’s relevance.
There’s also the attention span issue. While YouTube videos have grown longer over the years, the platform is fundamentally designed for users to click away to something else at any moment. Can a three-to-six-hour awards ceremony hold viewers’ attention when thousands of other options are literally one click away?
The Ratings Reality
These concerns exist against the backdrop of declining traditional viewership. Even the infamous 2022 ceremony featuring Will Smith slapping Chris Rock only drew 16.6 million viewers—the second-lowest total ever, exceeded in awfulness only by the pandemic-affected 2021 show. This year’s 18.1 million viewers, while an improvement, represents a fraction of the Oscars’ peak viewership of 57 million in 1998 when “Titanic” dominated the cultural conversation.
The question facing the Academy and YouTube is whether this decline reflects diminishing interest in the Oscars specifically, or simply the fragmentation of media consumption away from linear television. If it’s the latter, YouTube’s massive global audience could reverse the trend.
What This Means for ABC and Disney
For Disney and ABC, losing the Oscars to YouTube is undoubtedly disappointing, but perhaps not devastating. Live television remains a priority for the company, which recently acquired the Grammy Awards from CBS. In 2027, ABC will broadcast the Super Bowl, the Oscars, and the Grammys all in one year—a remarkable trifecta of major live events.
“ABC has been the proud home to The Oscars for more than half a century,” the company 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.”
Notably, insiders suggest Disney executives found losing to YouTube less painful than losing to a direct competitor like NBCUniversal would have been. YouTube exists in a different competitive category entirely.
The Bigger Picture for Hollywood
This move arrives during a period of profound uncertainty for the film industry. Warner Bros. continues reevaluating its theatrical distribution strategy, debates over theatrical windows remain unresolved, and the very definition of what constitutes an “Oscar movie” keeps evolving.
By 2029, when YouTube takes over the broadcast, the landscape could look dramatically different from today. Will theatrical releases still hold the same prestige? Will streaming films dominate the nominations? How will voters define excellence when distribution models vary so widely?
Some view the YouTube deal as a perfect match for this uncertain future. YouTube is already the world’s most-watched streaming platform and will likely be even more dominant by 2029. If the goal is finding eyeballs for a major event, YouTube may be the only logical choice.
A New Era Begins
The shift from ABC to YouTube draws parallels to other paradigm-shifting moments in media history, such as when Fox acquired NFL rights in 1994 despite having no sports infrastructure. Fox quickly built Fox Sports and transformed itself into a major network in the process.
YouTube was already a dominant force, but securing the Oscars sends an unmistakable signal: streaming platforms aren’t just alternatives to traditional media anymore—they’re becoming the primary venues for culture’s biggest moments.
After ABC broadcasts the centennial 100th Academy Awards in 2028, a new chapter begins. Whether the YouTube Oscars become more relevant and accessible, or whether they lose the gravitas that comes from appointment television, remains to be seen. What’s certain is that nothing about cinema’s biggest night will be quite the same.
