The Academy Awards Will Leave ABC and Stream on the Video Platform Starting in 2029.
The Oscars ceremony will begin streaming exclusively on YouTube in 2029, marking the most recent substantial shift in Hollywood.
The organization behind the Oscars declared the decision on Wednesday, confirming that it finalized a long-term agreement granting YouTube the sole worldwide broadcasting rights to the Oscars until 2033.
The Oscars, which is planned for March 15th, has aired for five decades on ABC. Starting in 2029, the ceremony will be accessible as a free live stream on the digital platform.
This is a further major shakeup in Hollywood, which is dealing with studio sales and mergers, coupled with severe reductions in filming.
"The Academy is an global institution, and this partnership will allow us to expand access to the activities of the Academy to the most extensive international crowd attainable - which will be beneficial for our Academy members and the movie industry," stated Academy leadership in a statement.
Throughout a long period, ratings of the awards show have fallen, although there was a slight uptick in recent years, with a significant number of youthful audiences watching from smartphones and computers.
In a related comment, the video platform's chief executive described the Oscars "one of our fundamental pillars of culture" and said that teaming up with the Academy would "motivate a younger cohort of innovation and movie fans while adhering to the Oscars' storied legacy".
ABC, which has streamed the ceremony since 1976, stated that it was eagerly anticipating "to the next three telecasts" it will retain rights for.
This shift follows major studios confront intricate takeover attempts. Both options were seen as problematic for an sector that has seen severe reductions over the past several years.
Similar to major studios, traditional TV channels have encountered challenges as the audience has chosen on-demand video instead.
The platform securing broadcasting rights to the Academy Awards strongly indicates that the dominance of online services will continue expanding.