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The Oscars Will Abandon Broadcast TV For YouTube In 2029 (variety.com) 83

Posted by BeauHD from the smash-that-like-button dept.
The Academy has struck a multi-year deal to move the Oscars to YouTube starting in 2029, ending decades on ABC and making the ceremony free to stream worldwide with YouTube holding exclusive global rights. Variety reports: The Oscars, including red carpet coverage, behind-the-scenes content and Governors Ball, will be available live and for free on YouTube to viewers around the world, as well as to YouTube TV subscribers in the United States. Architects of the agreement said they hope the move to YouTube will help 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." [...]

The Academy had been seeking a new broadcast licensing agreement for the better part of 2025. Over the summer, several expected and unconventional buyers, including NBCUniversal and Netflix, had come into the mix as potential suitors. Insiders believe that YouTube shelled out over nine figures for the Oscars, besting the high eight-figure offers from Disney/ABC and NBCUniversal. Under the most recent contract, Disney was paying around $100 million annually for the Oscars -- but given the ratings declines for the kudocast, Disney/ABC were reportedly looking to spend less on license fees.

[...] It's not a secret that the Academy and Disney/ABC would occasionally have disagreements over the best path for the Oscars, including the show's length, which awards to present and who should host. Now, on a streamer with no time limits, the Oscars can be any length, and the Academy likely has carte blanche to do whatever it wants with the telecast. "They can do whatever they want," says one insider. "You can have a six-hour Oscars hosted by MrBeast."
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The Oscars Will Abandon Broadcast TV For YouTube In 2029

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  • Should read... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by dbialac ( 320955 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2025 @08:12PM (#65865521)
    Show I don't watch will abandon Broadcast TV for streaming platform I don't use. I think it's safe to say that people over a certain age are never going to be watching the Oscars again because they won't know how to.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      pfft I don't even own a tv you uncultured rune

      • In an unrelated years ago event, although no one was shot or shooting at other humans (went postal), I was asked to fill out a Nielsen survey this week.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by dbialac ( 320955 )
          I did one once and didn't have anything other than an antenna and Netflix. This was very early in the days of online streaming. That made for an interesting response on my part as while I gave the time, the "Channel" part was almost always "Netflix". No idea how they handled it on their end, but that wasn't my problem.

          • They mailed a dollar in cash with the brief survey, and promise five more clams after they receive the completed survey.

            This is how the populace's information used to be collected, and I do suppose, at least the interested parties were paying me directly.

    • Re:Should read... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2025 @08:25PM (#65865551)

      Show I don't watch will abandon Broadcast TV for streaming platform I don't use. I think it's safe to say that people over a certain age are never going to be watching the Oscars again because they won't know how to.

      More to the point, if one is interested in who/what won what award - for some reason - it's easier to simply wait until the next day and read an article about it online somewhere. Same goes for any performances that may be entertaining. Why waste X hours watching either linear or streaming, especially if it contains commercials/ads. Personally, while I can see a point for the actual awards - it's nice to be recognized by your peers for your efforts - I can't really see a point to a (live) show about them. Same goes for all the other award shows. /$0.02

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by taustin ( 171655 )

      Most of them don't watch it now because they don't care. The Oscars haven't had any relation to the quality of the movie for decades.

      • It's more about who's pants can you get into that will help you get the award.

      • The Oscars haven't had any relation to the quality of the movie for decades.

        Eh, I don't know about that. If I'm looking for something to watch, a list of Oscar winners isn't a bad place to start. Winning an Oscar does not guarantee the film is good but it's an indication it's worth considering.

        That said, I remember finding awards shows dull back in the '80s, when the shows were still a huge deal. As others have written, it's much more time efficient to watch the recap later.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by taustin ( 171655 )

          Eh, I don't know about that. If I'm looking for something to watch, a list of Oscar winners isn't a bad place to start. Winning an Oscar does not guarantee the film is good but it's an indication it's worth considering.

          Go back far enough, yes. But 20 years ago, it was an indication of a successful marketing campaign on the part of the producers towards Academy members. Now, it's a sign of drinking the blue Kool-Aid.

    • I think it's safe to say that people over a certain age are never going to be watching the Oscars again because they won't know how to.

      I'm not sure what age you think that is, but this semi-old guy won't be watching it because I don't want to. It's pointless and boring.

      (And I'm not sure that I know of anyone, no matter how old, who "doesn't know how" to use YouTube.)

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dbialac ( 320955 )
        But you're also a techie. You know how to use YouTube and stream on your TV. Hand this off to an 80 year old who barely knows how to use a computer and doesn't have a clue how to use a "smart" TV and you've lost a lot of your audience.
    • At least now the show won't waste resources for a bunch of people who don't watch it. If people don't watch the stream than bandwidth and electric doesn't get used. Unlike when they waste 3ish hours of broadcast TV network time and tons of power for all the 100k to 200k watt broadcast TV blow torches across the country broadcasting this bullshit.
    • The first 10-15 minutes is pretty good it's normally standup, bits, and spoofs. The next 3 and a half plus hours is just so who cares for me.
      • The first 10-15 minutesâ¦.

        Its really not any good at all. Do yourself a favour and dont watch it, dont engage, go live your life.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

        The first 10-15 minutes is pretty good it's normally standup, bits, and spoofs. The next 3 and a half plus hours is just so who cares for me.

        This is probably the real reason for YouTube. Because YouTube gathers extreme levels of analytics including what parts are watched, what parts are skipped and such.

        With this they can figure out what is actually watched and where they can really cut and just produce a summary show of the parts people watch for maximum advertiser dollars.

    • The opposite is true too: people around the world who didn't have access to some specific broadcasters can see it now by clicking on a simple link. Works even if you don't have a TV set.

    • I find that hard to believe. Its the ONLY one I use - everything in one place, no pissing about searching different services for different things and its free if you don't mind ads.

    • I mean, my parents are in their late 60's and are watching more Youtube than regular TV these days. They're not particularly tech savy either.

      The world is moving beyond broadcast TV.

    • While I do use YouTube, I have no plans of watching them. Movies have been unwatchable for me this entire millennium, and their awards stink as well. It's not for the lack of a broadcast subscription that I didn't watch: I wouldn't have watched even otherwise

    • Show I don't watch will abandon Broadcast TV for streaming platform I don't use. I think it's safe to say that people over a certain age are never going to be watching the Oscars again because they won't know how to.

      I think this decision will have the opposite effect. I don't know who it is that you think doesn't know how to use YouTube, but my 80 year-old parents watch it all the time, whereas broadcast TV like ABC is become less available in the places it was available, and there's a lot of the world that ABC never reached at all. On YouTube, most of the world will have access.

  • Wait, the Oscars are still a thing? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by fpp ( 614761 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2025 @08:12PM (#65865523)
    Haven't watched them since the amount of soapboxing at the altar made it a miserable experience.
    • Never going to be as good as when Halley Berry called the people a bunch of racists, by pointing out their actions, and then they all stood up and clapped.

    • ... the size of an actors ego. Thats the whole reason their do their job , they want to be the centre of attention. However they also want to be seen as more than midwit semi autonomous parrots regurgitating words someone else wrote. They usually fail in this endeavour however.

      • ... the size of an actors ego. Thats the whole reason their do their job , they want to be the centre of attention. However they also want to be seen as more than midwit semi autonomous parrots regurgitating words someone else wrote. They usually fail in this endeavour however.

        I watched the golden globes for a few years when Ricky Gervais skewered the crowd. It was surreal, them clapping for a man who was straight out roasting them with truth. Telling them just how useless they were, how they had no right to lecture anyone on anything.

        Otherwise, these award shows are just mutual masturbation.

    • Haven't watched them since the amount of soapboxing at the altar made it a miserable experience.

      I never could understand the Oscars. It was always about Hollywood celebrating their own amazingness. It just always felt like a whole bunch of uber-elites getting together to stroke each other off over how incredible they were. I've probably seen a total of about a half-hour of it in my entire life, mostly because it just feels icky to see.

    • Right! Like Time magazine's Man of the Year and other honorifics from defunct institutions. The AW show is a squeezed-out lemon that commercial vultures are trying to get a few more drops from.
  • It's a snooze fest. If you actually care about the winners, that's easy to find out later. If there is somehow some great speech or happening, that'll be available on YouTube later as clips. No need to sit through the pain of the 3-4 hours of bullshit live.

    • It's a snooze fest. If you actually care about the winners, that's easy to find out later. If there is somehow some great speech or happening, that'll be available on YouTube later as clips. No need to sit through the pain of the 3-4 hours of bullshit live.

      This made me laugh thinking about ALL of the celebrities sitting in the audience thinking "Why am I here? I can catch clips of this shit on my couch."

      • It's widely recognized that "being at the Oscars" is not the real win. "Being at the high-end after-party" is the real win.

        (I mean, excluding by Diddy or Jeffrey Epstein.)

  • I'll watch it (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 17, 2025 @09:02PM (#65865607)
    ... if they get Ricky Gervais to host it and to mock them relentlessly, unfiltered, uncensored. Give him a longer leash than he had at the Golden Globes.

    • ... if they get Ricky Gervais to host it and to mock them relentlessly, unfiltered, uncensored. Give him a longer leash than he had at the Golden Globes.

      * Opening Night, 2029 YouTube Inagural Oscars *

      * Ricky's phone rings *

      "What? Now!? I mean, fuck yes I'll do a 1-hour live Netflix special when they start streaming. Do I need pants or what?"

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      I wasn't going to watch it anyway, but Gervais would ensure I actively avoid it. He's never been funny, just cringe. He's no Steve Coogan.

  • And many have already abandoned Broadcast TV and Online Streaming.

  • Pompous and self-important (Score:3)

    by RitchCraft ( 6454710 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2025 @09:27PM (#65865629)

    Who needs the Oscars when you can view pompous and self-important people in the government and tech CEO get-togethers? They are already all over broadcast TV and YouTube.

  • Great (Score:2)

    by Revek ( 133289 )
    Now I can not watch it there. Just like I haven't cared about the Oscars in over a decade.
    • In fact, even in the past years, footage of the Oscars has been there on YouTube, but I didn't bother watching it either live nor recorded

  • Maybe it will air something interesting and worth watching instead.

    But I doubt it.

  • Less accessible, if being a YouTube TV subscriber is a prerequisite (US only). Gotta pump up those subscription numbers, I guess.

  • If everyone moves to streaming (and we're already seeing a huge decrease in movie theatres) maybe there won't be any theatrical movie released by 2029 anyway.

  • Somebody remind me again what the Academy Awards are ... something to do with the Special Olympics?

  • Rigged
    Phony
    Useless
    A total waste of time
    A relic of the past

  • I think a reason why AMPAS could do this is because in most of the developed world, over 100 megabits/second download speeds are now easily available over cable TV lines (DOCSIS 3.1 and later), fiber optic line to the home, and now Starlink satellites. As such, everyone can enjoy watching the Oscar ceremonies with at least 720p/1080i resolution with no stuttering nowadays.. Besides, YouTube is ubiquitous almost everywhere, and given Google's server resources, can easily handle all the traffic.

  • I'd be much more intrigued by a story about the Golden Globes moving to YT.

  • Now the OG fakest of the fake meets modern-day fake, what a match made in heaven!

  • The Oscars viewership has dropped from 60million people to under 20 million over the last 10 years. I would bet the move was because broadcast channels said no we dont want it. Not enough viewers.

  • Too late. I won't be watching the woke orgy.

  • Who really cares about watching this Hollywood circle-jerk?

  • Commercial free, and time shifted, to skip through some of the less interesting parts.

    The ad-free part will presumably no longer be possible with YouTube. This is about ad money. And it means I won't be watching for the foreseeable future.

  • Who would have guessed that the worlds largest advertising company could afford to outbid anything they wanted to do, in order to prop up their dominant advertising monopoly any further. How could they do this?

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