The Oscars are moving from ABC to YouTube in 2029

[opus]

>>>The Academy Awards will be available to stream for free worldwide on YouTube, starting with the 101st ceremony in 2029

Cinema's biggest night has found a new home.

The Academy Awards are moving from ABC to YouTube starting in 2029. On Wednesday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and YouTube announced a multi-year deal giving the latter the exclusive global rights to the Oscars ceremony through 2033.

For the contracted four-year period, the Oscars — including red carpet coverage, behind-the-scenes content, and the Governors Ball — will be streaming live and for free to viewers around the world and for YouTube TV subscribers in the United States. Architects of the agreement hope the move to YouTube will help make the Oscars more accessible for "the Academy’s growing global audience through features such as closed captioning and audio tracks available in multiple languages."<<<

https://ew.com/oscars-moving-youtube-11871380

[TMC]

Oscars are moving from ABC to YouTube starting in 2029

Yes, that's correct: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced a major deal for the Oscars to move from ABC to YouTube, starting with the 101st ceremony in 2029 and running through 2033, making it a free, global stream with expanded content like red carpet coverage, ending its long broadcast run on ABC.

[opus]

When the Super Bowl is on Netflix, that’ll be the real end of broadcast television.

YouTube now the global broadcaster of the Oscars. This is how television dies.


But any article that starts with a quote from The Late Shift movie needs to be linked:


>>>There’s a line in the 1996 TV movie The Late Shift that I often want to evoke in this newsletter. It’s a scene where David Letterman is leaving his decade-plus home of NBC to face the media with the announcement that he is making a move to CBS. He turns to his companions and says:

Gentlemen, we are just going from one bizarre circumstance to the next.<<<

[icecream]

If this is true why isn't it all over the entertainment sites? There is nothing on The Hollywood Reporter or Deadline about this bombshell.

[JamesG]

Originally Posted by icecream

If this is true why isn't it all over the entertainment sites? There is nothing on The Hollywood Reporter or Deadline about this bombshell.

https://deadline.com/2025/12/oscars-...ts-1236651363/

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ne...29-1236453188/

[opus]

Originally Posted by icecream

If this is true why isn't it all over the entertainment sites? There is nothing on The Hollywood Reporter or Deadline about this bombshell.

The second thing I did I'm not sure what it is but the original link is Entertainment Weekly. They’re legit.

[TJ]

It's legit. We covered it on today's blog. It won't be surprising to see other big events moved to YouTube in the future.

The Oscars Moving to YouTube in 2029

[TMC]

Originally Posted by TMC

Oscars are moving from ABC to YouTube starting in 2029

Oscars will be liberated with move to YouTube

[opus]

A 24 hour, uncensored Oscars (“I lost? !”)?

Mario500 will not be pleased.

The Oscars on YouTube Could Bring an Unlimited Runtime, Unfiltered Hosts and the Show We’ve Always Wanted

[opus]

Originally Posted by TJ

It won't be surprising to see other big events moved to YouTube in the future

The Stephen Colbert Show

[TMC]

Originally Posted by TMC

Oscars are moving from ABC to YouTube starting in 2029

The Oscars Are Moving To YouTube….

Posted on December 17, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

….in 2029!

To be honest, I’m not really surprised by this move. It’s been a long time since the Oscar ceremony brought in monster ratings. Movies themselves have moved from being something that bring people together to instead becoming something of a niche interest. The movies that win awards are now often very different from the movies that people are paying to see. As well, we’re now in a culture where we see celebrities almost 24 hours a day. The enigmatic glamour that once went along with celebrity culture is gone and with it, the excitement that made the Oscars a television mainstay.

So, it makes sense. Moving the Oscars to YouTube will mean no longer having to deal with ABC demanding that the Academy give out awards like Oscar Cheers Moment or that Best Popular Film Oscar that they tried to get the Academy to include a few years ago. One presumes the Academy will now control the show, though apparently commercials will still air during the broadcast.

That said, I don’t think this movie is going to make the Oscars relevant again. It’s too late for that. The Oscars will be 101 years old by the time they move to YouTube and the ceremony is still going to face the task of holding viewer’s attention for 3+ hours. The Academy will no longer have to go through the humiliating post-show ritual of trying to make the bad ratings look good. But they will have to deal with the trolls in the comments.

My prediction is that the other awards shows will also be exclusively streaming by 2029. The Oscars are opening the dam. Why would a network waste money broadcasting the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards if the Oscars aren’t even going to be on ABC? Eventually, everyone will have a different awards show to choose from. The sequel to Sound of Freedom will win Best Picture at one ceremony while the prequel to One Battle After Another wins at another and, at another ceremony, the latest Marvel film will compete with the latest DC film.

The Oscars had a good run as an American institution.

But nothing lasts forever.

[opus]

Slightly edited the thread title for easier notice that it’s not gonna be for a while.

[James28]

https://deadline.com/2025/12/nbcuniv...ts-1236638176/

Yes, NBCUniversal has expressed strong interest in acquiring the broadcast rights for the Academy Awards, joining YouTube in bidding for the post-2028 telecasts, as the Academy seeks a new home after its deal with ABC expires, with NBCU leveraging its Universal Pictures ties, live event success, and the upcoming 2028 LA Olympics for potential cross-promotion.

How come CBS has never considered telecasting the Academy Awards like NBC and ABC did? (Don't ask me about FOX telecasting the Oscars, though.) With CBS giving up the Grammy Awards to ABC after 2027, that would have been the perfect time for CBS to snatch up the Oscars. If not, then what would have been the perfect time for CBS to ever get the broadcasting rights to the Oscars ceremony?

[opus]

Originally Posted by James28

How come CBS has never considered telecasting the Academy Awards like NBC and ABC did? (Don't ask me about FOX telecasting the Oscars, though.) With CBS giving up the Grammy Awards to ABC after 2027, that would have been the perfect time for CBS to snatch up the Oscars. If not, then what would have been the perfect time for CBS to ever get the broadcasting rights to the Oscars ceremony?

It’s because Paramount/CBS is broke and can’t afford The Oscars. They could only scape together a measly $108 billion dollar bid for Warners

[James28]

Originally Posted by opus

It’s because Paramount/CBS is broke and can’t afford The Oscars. They could only scape together a measly $108 billion dollar bid for Warners

And why couldn't CBS have gotten the rights to broadcast the Academy Awards in the past?

Telecasting history for the Academy Awards:

NBC (1953-1960)
ABC (1961-1970)
NBC (1971-1975)
ABC (1976-2028)

No CBS or FOX (probably ever, because the Oscars are getting off linear... perhaps for good).