Oscars make sudden jump from ABC to YouTube

The Oscars ceremony, which has been broadcast on ABC since 1976, will move to YouTube in 2029 and be broadcast by the video-sharing giant through at least 2033, according to a statement shared by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Wednesday.

The Disney-owned network will continue to air the Oscars, the world's most-watched telecast, through 2028, the network's centennial. Following that, it will be available live and free to YouTube and YouTube TV subscribers in the US.

As part of the new deal, YouTube will not only broadcast the Oscars ceremony, but also any related content. Speaking of the ceremony, The Hollywood Reporter notes that the ceremony brought in $150 million in revenue for the Academy in the last fiscal year, the majority of which came from the TV rights deal with Disney.

Also coming to YouTube are the red carpet pre-show and behind-the-scenes in-show content, the Oscar nominations announcement, the Governors Awards, the Oscars Nominees Luncheon, the Student Academy Awards Ceremony, the Scientific and Technical Awards ceremony, Academy member and filmmaker interviews, and other content such as podcasts and educational content.

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will also be supported by the Google Arts & Culture initiative, which provides digital access to select exhibitions and programs and helps digitize more than 52 million items from the Academy Collection.

As The Hollywood Reporter points out, the Oscars have been a major part of the organization's sizable live-event portfolio. Still, they are also expensive and depreciating — ratings for the event are a fraction of what they were a decade ago. Disney also appears to be thinking the same way, as the window to negotiate exclusively for the Oscars lapsed, with sources familiar with the matter telling The Hollywood Reporter that the company was unwilling to overpay for a property that isn't the breadwinner it once was.

Reportedly, streaming was the Academy's top priority, as Disney streamed the awards only on its Hulu service this past year. As expected, YouTube will be able to provide this on a global scale, alongside access to larger-scale sponsors that the Academy may not have had access to in the deal with ABC.

The deal has no known specifics yet. Still, the video-sharing giant is expected to give many of its creators (most likely well-known ones) access to the awards and the red carpet, alongside possibly the Dolby Theatre.