Oscars at YouTube: The Oscars or the Academy Awards have sent another shockwave into the streaming service world. Moving from the big screen format to personal devices, the Oscars will stream worldwide, free of cost, starting in 2029.
Signing a multi-year deal, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has made it official with global streaming giant YouTube. 2029 will mark the 101st Academy Awards and the end of the ABC deal, with streaming rights till 2028.
The Oscars 2029 – Free on YouTube
The star-studded affair with the who’s who of Hollywood in attendance is the biggest night for the movie. A red carpet like no other, dazzling in couture, the Academy Awards are one of the highest honours a film can receive in its theatrical run.
Exclusive coverage of the red carpet, behind-the-scenes content, and the Governors Ball will be available live and free on YouTube, around the world. It will also stream live for YouTube TV subscribers in the US. The commercials will run on the streaming platform, too, as per a Variety report.
The shift is marked by the need to make the Oscars more accessible to ‘the Academy’s growing global audience through features such as closed captioning and audio tracks available in multiple languages,’ shared Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Lynette Howell Taylor.
The Academy has been seeking a new broadcast licensing agreement for the majority of 2025. In fact, NBCUniversal and OTT giant Netflix were among the interested and unconventional buyers. This came during the crucially curated deal between Netflix and Warner Bros was in the works. Set to take place at a $82.7 billion price tag, the OTT giant intends to take over the production platform. However, it has a massive competitor, David Ellison’s Paramount Pictures – also in the race to acquire Warner Bros.
YouTube x The Academy
As per several reports, YouTube shelled out over a nine-figure deal for the Oscars. It trumped the eight-figure offer from Disney/ABC and NBCUniversal. Variety reported that Disney had agreed to pay nearly $100 million annually for the award show.
However, as per industry chatter, YouTube was a sceptical pick, given its lack of production power. The three years would be used to put together the infrastructure to produce the show. At the same time, though, this deal would give the Academy full control over the production of the Oscars to come, at least till 2033. While several questions remain unanswered, such as international distribution, additional license fee, and advertising revenue, in 2029, the Oscars will be officially a freely streamed event.
What remains behind
The viewership parameters remain unclear regarding how YouTube will measure the report card. With reduced attention spans, longer videos on streaming platforms might lose their appeal after the live stream ends. Given the sordid case of ratings, the deal also comes with the second-lowest view tally post-COVID, with 18.1 million viewers. These numbers, when compared to 57 million viewers in 1998, simply imply in the overall decline in interest.
Interestingly, the deal has not pinched Disney/ABC as much as it would have if NBCUniversal signed it. Earlier this year, Disney/ABC acquired rights from the Grammys (from CBS) – the biggest night for music awards.