2029 will be a historic year for the Oscars, and for television ceremonies in general. A few months after the Hollywood Academy will celebrate its 100th anniversary (in 2028) by presenting the awards for best film, the gala will take place for the first time on a digital platform, notably YouTube, which reigns over all. The Internet television giant, owned by Google, will be responsible for broadcasting the Oscars from at least 2029 to 2033, and, another change in the traditional functioning of the ceremony, it will be broadcast worldwide and for free, as the Academy announced several months ago in a press release.
This move represents a change in direction that has been expected for years, but it is no less important. The Academy has been looking for a buyer for the Oscar rights since 1976, which Disney and ABC have offered since 1976 (NBC has broadcast it in previous years), and it streaming it was a priority for the association, before the notable decline of traditional television. On EE UU, television with schedules and channels fell to 64% of total viewers (adding cable and open) in 2021 to 43.7% in just four years, according to Nielsen counter figures for this month of November. In this breakdown, YouTube only falls with 12.9% viewers, plus a lot of money with this sale, and Netflix, its closest rival, falls further, with 8.3% viewers.
The other key point of this agreement seems to be the power of a global platform to broadcast throughout the world a ceremony which increasingly affects films from all over the planet. Until now, Disney sold the rights country by country. In Spain, for example, they are traditionally broadcast by Movistar Plus+, and in Latin America on Warner’s TNT channel. Now everything will be under the same technology and under one brand, making it easier to sell advertising together.
YouTube, in addition, will publish, according to this agreement, all types of content around the Oscars: the red cover, the nominations, the Governor’s honorary awards gala (which has not yet been published), the nominees’ awards, the student awards, the technical awards, podcast or even educational films on the history of the Academy and its museum. And what’s more: Google’s Culture and Art section will support the Museo de la Academia de Cine de Los Angeles, which will contribute to digitalization. Google had money to give and share, which is why Netflix (which broadcasts other awards shows like the actors’ union), NBCUniversal or Paramount couldn’t do it. Since Deadline has pointed out that, given the decline in audiences and the demand for less commercial films, Disney is not interested in paying such high figures, despite the fact that at the beginning of 2025 there is still exclusivity in the negotiation.
In Spain, the Feroz awards have also been awarded through the digital platform in recent years. YouTube TV, moreover, is on track to become the largest provider of paid TV channels in the United States, and the use of the platform on televisions has not increased further worldwide, which is one of its main expansion goals.
“The Oscars are one of the most essential cultural institutions, honoring excellence in storytelling and creativity,” explained YouTube delegate Neal Mohan in the release: “Joining the Academy in bringing this celebration of art and entertainment to audiences around the world will inspire a new generation of creativity and film fans as we continue the legacy of the Oscars.” The delegate advisor of the EE UU Film Academy, Bill Kramer, and the president Lynette Howell Taylor emphasized, on the other hand, that this agreement undermines the position of the academy as an “international organization”: “This association will encourage us to extend the work of the academy to the largest possible global audience network, which will benefit its members and the film community”. This change has manifested itself in recent years in the proliferation of international voters and in the success of film awards such as ParasitesAnatomy of a fall, The area of interest THE Émilie Pérez, who are not American. Next year, during the gala which will take place on March 16 in Los Angeles, we hope that these mentions will also join films like Sentimental value, The secret agent THE A simple accident.
The Hollywood Reporter He points out that a gala like this generates fewer and fewer tickets on traditional television which does not want to lose viewers. According to financial documents viewed, Oscar received $150 million (around 127 million euros) in benefits at last year’s gala, presented by Conan O’Brien. And while it remains one of the most-watched ceremonies on television (behind the Grammys), its reach has surpassed the record 57 million viewers in the United States in 1998 (or 45 in a normal year) to reach the 19 it has reached in recent years. The lowest mark was reached, that is, after the year of Covid, with a reduced ceremony which only reached 10 million spectators. The 101 years will therefore mark a definitive change in direction, because from now on audiences will be counted globally, and they will control their own platforms, without the need to be transparent.
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