The Academy Awards to Depart ABC and Broadcast Live on YouTube Beginning in the Year 2029.
The Oscars ceremony will commence broadcasting solely on YouTube in 2029, representing the most recent substantial change in the film industry.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences made the announcement on Wednesday, indicating that it finalized a long-term agreement awarding YouTube the sole worldwide broadcasting rights to the Oscars until 2033.
The awards show, set for 15 March, has been televised for 50 years on the traditional network. Starting in 2029, the show will be accessible in real-time without charge on YouTube.
This is one more substantial shakeup in the entertainment world, which is navigating company buyouts and fusions, along with severe production cuts.
"Our Academy represents an worldwide body, and this partnership will allow us to increase availability to the work of the Academy to the largest worldwide audience imaginable - which will be advantageous for our Academy members and the movie industry," stated the Academy's executives in a release.
For many years, audience numbers of the ceremony have fallen, although there was a small rise in recent years, with a considerable amount of Gen Z and millennial watchers streaming from smartphones and desktops.
In a separate statement, YouTube's CEO referred to the Oscars "one of our fundamental pillars of culture" and said that teaming up with the Academy would "inspire a younger cohort of innovation and cinema enthusiasts while adhering to the Oscars' illustrious heritage".
The broadcast network, which has streamed the ceremony since the mid-1970s, stated that it was excited "to the upcoming broadcasts" it will continue to air.
This shift follows large entertainment companies deal with challenging merger discussions. Both options were viewed as unfavourable for an sector that has experienced severe reductions over the last few years.
Like big production houses, cable networks have faced issues as the audience has increasingly opted for streaming services instead.
YouTube winning the license to the Oscars strongly indicates that the dominance of digital platforms will carry on expanding.
