The Academy Awards will be departing network television and heading to YouTube under a new deal struck with the Alphabet-owned, San Bruno-based company, marking a major shift for the nearly 100-year-old awards show.

After the Academy Awards celebrates its 100th ceremony in 2028, the awards broadcast will be moving to YouTube under a "multifaceted global partnership" that will include red carpet coverage and more. As the Associated Press reports, this means that traditional network broadcaster ABC has only three more Oscars on its roster before the show moves fully into streaming.

"The Academy is an international organization, and this partnership [with YouTube] 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," said academy chief executive Bill Kramer and academy president Lynette Howell Taylor in a joint statement Wednesday.

The news follows a tumultuous couple of weeks for Hollywood in which the Bay Area-headquartered Netflix announced an $83B takeover deal for Warner Bros. Discovery, and that was followed by the announcement of a hostile takeover attempt by rival Paramount Skydance.

And this is certainly a win for YouTube when it comes to legitimacy for its cable-cutting streaming product, YouTube TV. It's also a loss for Disney-owned ABC, which has been broadcasting the Oscars telecast since 1976.

As Deadline reports, Alphabet/YouTube outbid other suitors for the Academy Awards, and the Academy is promising more year-round programming once the arrangement begins. YouTube will air the 101st Oscars in 2029, and the deal runs through 2033.

The Oscars telecast and all other Oscar-related content will then live on an Oscars Channel on YouTube.

"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," Kramer and Howell Taylor say. "We will be able to celebrate cinema, inspire new generations of filmmakers and provide access to our film history on an unprecedented global scale."

Another prominent Hollywood Awards show has already made the move to streaming. Next year we will see the SAG Awards moving over to Netflix, and getting rebranded as "The Actors' Awards," as Deadline notes.

"The Oscars are one of our essential cultural institutions, honoring excellence in storytelling and artistry,” says YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, in a statement. "Partnering with the Academy to bring this celebration of art and entertainment to viewers all over the world will inspire a new generation of creativity and film lovers while staying true to the Oscars’ storied legacy."

Top image: An Oscar statue is displayed during the 16th Governors Awards at The Ray Dolby Ballroom on November 16, 2025 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)