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The Academy Awards will commence streaming exclusively on YouTube in 2029, marking the most recent major change in Hollywood.

The organization behind the Oscars revealed the news on Wednesday, indicating that it signed a extended contract awarding the streaming service the exclusive global rights to the Oscars up to 2033.

The Oscars, scheduled for March 15th, has aired for a half a century on ABC. Beginning in 2029, the show will be viewable as a free live stream on the digital platform.

It's another major shakeup in the entertainment world, which is navigating studio sales and mergers, coupled with drastic slashes to movie budgets.

"The Academy is an global institution, and this partnership will permit us to increase availability to the mission of the Academy to the most extensive international crowd attainable - which will be beneficial for our membership and the movie industry," said organization heads in a announcement.

Over decades, viewership of the televised event have fallen, although there was a slight uptick in 2025, with a considerable amount of youthful audiences tuning in from cell phones and computers.

In a related comment, YouTube's CEO described the Oscars "a key fundamental cultural touchstones" and added that working with the Academy would "motivate a new generation of creativity and movie fans while remaining faithful to the Oscars' celebrated legacy".

ABC, which has aired the awards since 1976, commented that it was looking forward "to hosting the event three more times" it will retain rights for.

The move comes as major studios confront complex corporate battles. Such proposals were considered concerning for an sector that has witnessed significant downsizing over the last few years.

Similar to major studios, cable networks have faced issues as the audience has increasingly opted for digital platforms instead.

YouTube obtaining broadcasting rights to the Academy Awards clearly signals that reliance on streaming sites will continue expanding.