The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that starting in 2029, the Academy Awards ceremony will officially be launched on the YouTube platform and will be open to global audiences through a free live broadcast and will be broadcast on YouTube TV in the United States. According to the agreement reached by the two parties, this exclusive cooperation will continue until at least 2033, covering the live broadcast of the awards ceremony and various supporting expanded content. Prior to this, the Oscars will continue to be broadcast by ABC until the end of the 100th awards ceremony in 2028.
At that time, YouTube will not only broadcast the entire awards ceremony live, but also provide content such as the red carpet show, backstage footage, and the Governors Ball to present a more complete and immersive Oscar night to viewers. Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Lynette Howell Taylor said in a statement that the partnership with YouTube will leverage its huge audience size and technical capabilities to inject more innovative interactive methods into the Oscars and other Academy programs, while continuing and respecting the legacy of the Oscars as a traditional brand.
Before the cooperation was officially finalized, there were rumors earlier this year that YouTube was actively negotiating for Oscar rights. Now with the announcement of the agreement, the streaming platform will take over the traditional TV network and become the main broadcast channel for this top entertainment event around the world. Industry insiders generally regard this as an important milestone in the in-depth integration of Hollywood award shows and Internet platforms, and also reflects the accelerated migration of large-scale live events from linear television to streaming media platforms.
It is worth mentioning that other streaming media platforms have also increased their investment in large-scale awards events in recent years. Netflix will broadcast the Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG Awards) live on its platform starting in 2024, which is part of a multi-year cooperation agreement between the two parties. As the Oscars join hands with YouTube, these streaming media platforms are gradually building their own heavy content matrix and competing more directly with traditional TV networks in competing for audience attention and advertising resources.