- The Academy and YouTube ink Oscars deal
- The 101st Oscars will stream on YouTube
- The event has aired on ABC for almost 50 years
And the Oscar goes to…YouTube. Google‘s streaming video giant has just secured the 2029 Academy Awards show and the surrounding red-carpet events. The telecast will be leaving Disney-owned ABC, its home since 1976.
It’s a big moment for streaming TV and, perhaps, an unfortunate sign of the times for linear, a.ka. broadcast TV. Just this year, streaming surpassed the combined viewership of broadcast and cable (the split is 44.1% for the pair and 44.8% for streaming), according to Nielsen.
Live events like the Oscars and sports have been one of the ways in which linear TV still wins, but streamers like Netflix, Amazon, Apple, and others have been partnering with major sports leagues to bring the live games to their platforms (Apple has the MLB and MLS, Amazon Prime has some NFL games). Award shows, however, had held fast to broadcast and cable – until now. In recent years, Disney has also streamed the Oscars on Disney+ and Hulu.
According to a release from the Academy, which hosts and runs the Oscars awards and show, YouTube will begin hosting the show in 2029 with the 101st Oscars and continue to do so through 2033.
“We are thrilled to enter into a multifaceted global partnership with YouTube to be the future home of the Oscars and our year-round Academy programming,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Lynette Howell Taylor said in the release.
Programming will include the yearly nominees announcement, red carpet, the Governors Ball, and other behind-the-scenes content.
Perhaps more importantly for Oscars fans, the Oscars show will stream live and for free on YouTube, as well as to YouTube TV subscribers.
Opening that envelope
After years of declining viewership, ABC and the Academy made some adjustments to the program in 2024, including moving up the show start time to an earlier hour, which resulted in its biggest audience since 2020.
19.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen, sounds like a lot, but YouTube has 2.7 billion monthly active users. In other words, the potential for reach may be far greater than the Oscars’ apparently shrinking linear TV opportunities. However, the shift to YouTube will likely change viewing habits and cause some confusion among long-time Oscars fans who may not realize, for instance, that they need a smart TV and to run the YouTube app to see the 2029 event.
Naturally, this may not matter much to, say, Gen Z, which rarely watches broadcast TV and is just as happy to consume shows on their smartphones or tablets.
As for what happens when the agreement ends, Google and the Academy could re-up, or Disney might come back with a sweeter streaming deal on Disney+. Similarly, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or Apple TV might see an opening.
The point is, all bets are off for the future of the iconic show, and linear TV may never be the same again.
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lance.ulanoff@futurenet.com (Lance Ulanoff)
