The Oscars Are Exiting Broadcast TV and Stream on YouTube Beginning in the Year 2029.
The Oscars ceremony will commence airing only on YouTube in 2029, marking the most recent major change in Hollywood.
The organization behind the Oscars made the announcement on this week, confirming that it entered into a extended contract awarding the streaming service the sole worldwide broadcasting rights to the Oscars through 2033.
The Oscars, scheduled for March 15th, has been televised for a half a century on the traditional network. Starting in 2029, the ceremony will be available live and for free on YouTube.
This is a further substantial upheaval in the entertainment world, which is grappling with studio sales and mergers, along with drastic slashes to movie budgets.
"Our Academy represents an international organization, and this partnership will enable us to increase availability to the mission of the Academy to the most extensive international crowd attainable - which will be beneficial for our Academy members and the movie industry," said the Academy's executives in a announcement.
For many years, audience numbers of the awards show have dropped, although there was a small rise in recent years, with a significant number of youthful audiences streaming from cell phones and computers.
In a separate statement, the head of YouTube described the Oscars "one of our vital cultural touchstones" and said that partnering with the Academy would "motivate a younger cohort of creativity and film lovers while adhering to the Oscars' storied legacy".
The broadcast network, which has streamed the awards since the mid-1970s, stated that it was eagerly anticipating "to the next three telecasts" it will retain rights for.
The move follows major studios deal with complex corporate battles. Such proposals were seen as unfavourable for an sector that has witnessed significant downsizing over the past several years.
Like big production houses, cable networks have struggled as the audience has chosen digital platforms instead.
YouTube obtaining rights to the Academy Awards strongly indicates that reliance on streaming sites will continue expanding.