And the Oscar goes to…YouTube

LOS ANGELES: The red carpet is rolling out in a new direction—and it’s algorithm-approved. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has handed YouTube exclusive global streaming rights to the Oscars from 2029 through 2033, ending a broadcast relationship with ABC that stretches back to 1976.

The deal marks Hollywood’s most dramatic capitulation yet to streaming’s inexorable rise. YouTube reportedly committed a nine-figure sum to secure the rights, outbidding Disney/ABC and NBCUniversal in a heated auction that saw Netflix also express interest. Under the outgoing arrangement, Disney was paying approximately $100m per year for a ceremony that generated about $150m in annual revenue for the Academy. But plummeting ratings gave Disney cold feet—the Mouse House sought a lower licence fee in renewal talks, opening the door for YouTube’s aggressive play.

From the 101st Academy Awards onwards, the ceremony streams live and free worldwide—a democratisation of glitz that could reach YouTube’s two billion-plus users. American viewers get the added option of YouTube TV, whilst everyone else simply needs an internet connection and a tolerance for three-hour acceptance speeches.

The partnership extends well beyond awards night. YouTube will throw open the velvet ropes to red carpet coverage, backstage green rooms, Governors Ball schmoozing, the nominations announcement, the Governors Awards, the Oscars Nominees Luncheon, the Student Academy Awards and the decidedly unglamorous Scientific and Technical Awards. Filmmaker interviews, podcasts and film education programmes complete the package. Multilingual audio tracks and closed captions promise accessibility on a scale broadcast television never managed.

In a cultural flourish, Google Arts & Culture will help digitise portions of the Academy Collection—a vast trove comprising more than 52m items—and bring select Academy Museum exhibitions online, turning YouTube into something between a streaming platform and a digital Smithsonian for cinema obsessives.

Until then, business as usual: Disney ABC holds US rights through the 100th Oscars in 2028, with Disney’s Buena Vista International handling overseas broadcasts. After that, Hollywood’s biggest night trades appointment television for algorithmic immortality.

The message is clear: if you can’t beat the streamers, join them—preferably before they start handing out their own golden statues. Lights, camera, buffering.