The Oscars will be on YouTube from 2029, for free

The great ceremony of American cinema will leave the broadcasts of classic television, after its 100th edition.

A sign of changing times, the biggest night of world cinema is taking place on the Internet!

Starting in 2029, the Oscars will be broadcast exclusively on YouTube. She left traditional American television, which she had invested in in 1953 (on NBC at the time).

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and YouTube announced the signing of a multi-year agreement granting the platform exclusive worldwide rights to the ceremony until 2033. During this four-year period, the Oscars – red carpet, backstage, Governors Ball included – will be broadcast live and free around the world, as well as to YouTube TV subscribers in the United States.

The architects of this agreement hope to reach a wider and more international audience, in particular thanks to features such as subtitles and multilingual audio tracks, designed to “the Academy’s growing global audience.

Because if the rest of the world feels more concerned by the Oscars (European or Asian cinema is much better represented in all categories, like Parasite Or Anatomy of a Fall in recent years), America has gradually turned away from the Oscars. The audience for the ceremony increased from around 40 million viewers around ten years ago to 19.69 million for the last edition. Hollywood struggles to speak to its compatriots today, so it will try to speak to other citizens of the world.

This shift marks the end of a partnership of more than fifty years with ABC, owned by the Disney group. The channel, which has held the rights since 1976, will however continue to broadcast the ceremony until 2028, concluding this long history with the symbolic 100th edition. Broadcasting in France should continue to be on Disney Plus (as has been the case since last year) until then.

In a joint statement, Academy CEO Bill Kramer and President Lynette Howell Taylor said: “We are thrilled to enter into a global, multifaceted partnership with YouTube, the future home of the Oscars and our year-round programming. This collaboration will leverage YouTube’s immense reach while opening up new engagement opportunities, while respecting our heritage. It will allow us to celebrate cinema, inspire new generations of filmmakers, and provide unprecedented access to the history of cinema on a global scale.”

In the meantime, the 2026 Oscars will be broadcast on Sunday March 15 and again presented by Conan O’Brien, on ABC in the USA and Disney + in France.