Academy Awards, YouTube sign deal to livestream Oscars from 2029

The event’s organizers have announced that the ABC network will no longer be able to broadcast the illustrious movie awards ceremony live on YouTube starting in 2029, which is the first time in more than 50 years.

The partnership between the Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, will allow “the largest worldwide audience possible,” according to Bill Kramer and Lynette Howell Taylor, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The statement stated that “this collaboration will make use of YouTube’s extensive reach and give the Oscars and other Academy programming new opportunities for engagement while honoring our legacy.”

We will be able to celebrate cinema, inspire new filmmakers, and give filmmakers access to our film history on a never-before-seen global scale, it continued.

The Oscars 2026 and 2027 editions, as well as the 2028 ceremony marking its 100th anniversary, are still scheduled to be held on ABC. Beginning in 2029, the transition to YouTube will continue until 2033.

Since 1976, the Walt Disney-owned ABC broadcast network has televised the Oscars annually. As viewers switch to online streaming services in recent years, ratings for the ceremony, which is regarded as the most prestigious in the industry, have dropped.

For the first time ever, Disney-owned streaming service Hulu streamed the 2025 Oscars in March. Despite technical issues, including the stream cutting off before the two biggest award categories, for best actress and best picture, were announced, the program drew in a five-year high of 19.7 million US viewers.

However, that number is still far below 1998’s 57 million viewership peak.

The YouTube deal has not been disclosed in any way. According to a source with knowledge of the situation, ABC reportedly tried to keep the Oscars, but the network has struggled to turn a profit in recent years.

The Oscars ceremony will be stream live on YouTube for free, and there will also be audio tracks in multiple languages with closed captioning and subtitles to “make the show accessible to a global audience.”

Additionally, YouTube has the rights to stream other Academy events, including the Governors’ Awards and the Oscar nominees’ luncheon, which are typically held off-camera.

YouTube CEO Neal Mohan referred to the Oscars as one of the world’s “essential cultural institutions” in a press release.