The Academy Awards Will Leave Broadcast TV and Broadcast Live on YouTube Beginning in 2029.
The Academy Awards will commence streaming exclusively on YouTube in 2029, signaling the newest major shift in Hollywood.
The organization behind the Oscars made the announcement on Wednesday, confirming that it entered into a multi-year deal granting YouTube the exclusive global rights to the Oscars through 2033.
The awards show, which is planned for March 15th, has aired for five decades on ABC. Beginning in 2029, the ceremony will be viewable as a free live stream on the digital platform.
It's one more substantial shakeup in the entertainment world, which is grappling with corporate acquisitions and consolidations, along with drastic slashes to movie budgets.
"The Academy is an global institution, and this collaboration will permit us to increase availability to the activities of the Academy to the most extensive international crowd attainable - which will be beneficial for our film artists and the movie industry," remarked Academy leadership in a announcement.
Throughout a long period, viewership of the awards show have declined, though there was a small rise in recent years, with a notable portion of Gen Z and millennial watchers tuning in from cell phones and computers.
In a separate statement, YouTube's CEO referred to the Oscars "a key essential pillars of culture" and noted that partnering with the Academy would "motivate a fresh wave of creativity and film lovers while remaining faithful to the Oscars' illustrious history".
ABC, which has streamed the ceremony since 1976, said that it was excited "to the upcoming broadcasts" it will retain rights for.
This shift comes as large entertainment companies deal with complex corporate battles. These potential deals were considered problematic for an sector that has witnessed severe reductions over the past several years.
In common with big production houses, traditional TV channels have faced issues as the viewers has increasingly opted for streaming services instead.
The platform securing the license to the Oscars strongly indicates that the dominance of streaming sites will carry on increasing.