In a seismic shift for one of television's most marquee events, the Academy Awards will leave ABC and begin streaming on YouTube starting in 2029, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Wednesday.

ABC will continue to broadcast the annual ceremony through 2028. That year will mark the 100th anniversary of the Oscars.

But starting in 2029, YouTube will retain global rights to broadcast the Oscars. through 2033. YouTube will effectively be the home of all things Oscars, including red carpet coverage, the Governors' Awards and the announcement of Oscar nominations.

“We are thrilled to enter into a multi-faceted global partnership with YouTube to be the future home of the Oscars and our annual Academy programming,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Lynette Howell Taylor. “The Academy is an international organization, and this partnership will allow us to expand access to the Academy's work to the largest possible global audience, which will be beneficial to our Academy members and the film community.”

While major awards ceremonies have added streaming partnerships, the deal with YouTube marks the first time one of the big four — the Oscars, Grammys, Emmys and Tonys — has completely abandoned broadcast television. This puts one of the most viewed streams outside of the NFL in the hands of Google. YouTube has about 2 billion viewers.

The Academy Awards will be broadcast for free on YouTube, in addition to being available to YouTube TV subscribers. The broadcast will be available with audio tracks in many languages, as well as subtitles.

The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“The Oscars are one of our essential cultural institutions, honoring excellence in storytelling and art,” Neal Mohan, CEO of YouTube, said. “Partnering with the Academy to bring this celebration of art and entertainment to viewers around the world will inspire a new generation of creatives and film lovers, while staying true to the historic legacy of the Oscars.”

ABC, owned by The Walt Disney Co., has been the broadcast home of the Oscars for almost its entire history. NBC first televised the Oscars in 1953, but ABC acquired the rights in 1961. Aside from a period between 1971 and 1975, when NBC picked up the show again, the Oscars have been on ABC.

“ABC has been the proud home of the Oscars for more than half a century,” the network said in a statement. “We look forward to the next three telecasts, including the ceremony's centennial celebration in 2028, and wish the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences continued success.”

The 2025 Academy Awards were watched by 19.7 million viewers on ABC, a slight increase from the previous year. It remains one of the biggest television broadcasts of the year, although well below its best moment. In 1999, more than 55 million people watched James Cameron's “Titanic” win best picture.

The film academy, by choosing YouTube over other options like Netflix or NBC Universal/Peacock, chose a platform with a large and massive audience, but without as much established production infrastructure.

Still, more people — especially young people — watch YouTube than any other streaming platform. According to Nielsen, YouTube accounted for 12.9% of all television and streaming content consumed in November. Netflix took second place with a market share of 8.3%.

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This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.