Academy Awards To Be Hosted On YouTube From 2029 Onward

For the past 50 years the Academy Awards and related content have been hosted and streamed on ABC channels, due to a deal between the company and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Now, that deal is expiring and the Academy has chosen to strike a deal with YouTube instead of ABC.

Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Lynette Howell Taylor had this to say in a statement:

“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. The Academy is an international organization, and this partnership will allow us to expand access to the work of the Academy to the largest worldwide audience possible — which will be beneficial for our Academy members and the film community. This collaboration will leverage YouTube’s vast reach and infuse the Oscars and other Academy programming with innovative opportunities for engagement while honoring our legacy. We will be able to celebrate cinema, inspire new generations of filmmakers and provide access to our film history on an unprecedented global scale.”

This new deal will make sure the Oscars, The Governors Awards, the red-carpet preshow before these events, and luncheons, will be as widespread as they possibly could be through YouTube’s online distribution where things are available to anybody, anywhere, at any time, whilst ABC is an American institution that only is available in North America.

ABC will continue to hold the rights through the 100th Academy Awards so the 98th Academy Awards (for 2025 films), the 99th Academy Awards (for 2026 films) and the 100th Academy Awards (for 2027 films) will continue to be viewed as they have been.

The 98th Academy Awards will air Sunday, March 15, 2026 at 4 PM PST on ABC.

Thanks for reading this Academy Awards YouTube news. For more, stay tuned here at Feature First.