Academy Awards, YouTube sign deal to livestream Oscars from 2029

Organisers say the deal with YouTube will allow viewers to watch the awards ceremony on an ‘unprecedented global scale’.

The annual Academy Awards will be livestreamed on YouTube from 2029, the event’s organisers have announced, with the ABC network losing the rights to broadcast the illustrious movie awards ceremony for the first time in more than 50 years.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences CEO Bill Kramer and President Lynette Howell Taylor said in a Wednesday statement the YouTube partnership would allow the Academy Awards – better known as the Oscars – to reach “the largest worldwide audience possible”.

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“This collaboration will leverage YouTube’s vast reach and infuse the Oscars and other Academy programming with innovative opportunities for engagement while honoring our legacy,” the statement said.

“We will be able to celebrate cinema, inspire new generations of filmmakers and provide access to our film history on an unprecedented global scale,” it added.

ABC is still set to host the Oscars 2026 and 2027 editions, as well as the 100th anniversary ceremony in 2028. The move to YouTube will begin with the 2029 edition and run through to 2033.

The Walt Disney-owned ABC broadcast network has televised the Oscars every year since 1976. Recent years have seen ratings for the ceremony, regarded as the film industry’s most prestigious, decline as audiences move to online streaming platforms.

The 2025 Oscars, held in March, were also simulcast live on Disney-owned streaming platform Hulu for the first time. Despite technical issues – including the stream cutting off before two major award categories, best actress and best picture, were announced – the show brought in a five-year high 19.7 million US viewers.

That figure, however, remains far below its peak of 57 million viewers in 1998.

No financial details for the YouTube deal have been disclosed. ABC reportedly bid to keep the Oscars, but did not want to overpay as the network has found it harder to turn a profit in recent years, the Reuters news agency reported, quoting a source familiar with the matter.

YouTube has confirmed the Oscars ceremony will be available to livestream for free, while it will also provide closed captioning and audio tracks in multiple languages to “make the show accessible to a global audience”.

YouTube has also secured the rights to stream other Academy events, including the Governors Awards and Oscar nominees luncheon, two events that have typically taken place off-camera.

Heralding the move, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan described the Oscars as one of the world’s “essential cultural institutions”.

“Partnering with the Academy to bring this celebration of art and entertainment to viewers all over the world will inspire a new generation of creativity and film lovers while staying true to the Oscars’ storied legacy,” Mohan added.