00:00 Speaker A
The Oscars will stream live for free on YouTube starting in 2029, leaving its longtime home of ABC.
00:10 Speaker A
The deal will run through at least 2033. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences reached a deal to broadcast the ceremony, as well as behind the scenes content and red carpet coverage for free on the streaming platform.
00:23 Speaker A
The Oscars are the first major award show to decamp from linear and cable TV for streaming.
00:30 Speaker A
For more, I’m joined now by Katie Rich, the Ankle Awards editor.
00:35 Speaker A
Katie, is good to see you. Um, maybe start at a at a high level, Katie, for those of us who don’t follow this as closely, you know, the Oscar’s moving to YouTube, Katie, why is that such a big deal for Hollywood and and media companies and and media investors? Give us the context.
00:53 Katie Rich
Well, Hollywood and digital streaming services and tech in general have a complicated relationship. You know, there’s tech companies making their way into Hollywood.
01:03 Katie Rich
YouTube has certainly been among them, more on the television side than making anything that you would call films that would be eligible for Oscars. And there’s been this growing sense not only that these tech companies are trying to take over more of the industry, but with the ABC, with ABC airing the Oscars, the ratings for it had been going down over the years, just part of the way that audience attention works in no small part thanks to these tech companies.
01:24 Katie Rich
So, ABC had been paying around $100 million to license the Oscars every year, and there has been some reporting that they were looking to spend a little bit less. And then YouTube, constantly trying to maybe prove itself, get a little bit more credibility within Hollywood, I think saw an opportunity and said, okay, we’ll be the steward for the Oscars for at least four years.
01:42 Speaker A
And why, Katie, do you think the Academy chose YouTube? Why that platform? Because reportedly there were there were others, right? Netflix.
01:49 Katie Rich
It’s possible that they paid the most, which is certainly no small thing. But there’s also the way that the Academy considers itself is kind of a neutral arbiter within Hollywood. You know, it wants to give everyone a fair treatment. It wants all of these studios and streamers and everyone to kind of come to their table, compete for the Oscars, and really just be kind of a home for celebration of good cinema, no matter where it is.
02:11 Katie Rich
So Netflix is obviously a huge player. They’re airing the Screen actors Guild Awards, which were recently renamed the Actor Awards, but Netflix also makes movies that compete in the Oscar race.
02:22 Katie Rich
So there’s a way that YouTube is sort of a a neutral uh third party that can be in the middle of it. And also in terms of the global reach that they’re talking about, Netflix is a global company, of course, but YouTube is just everywhere. It’s a link that you can send to anyone you in your life and make sure they can see it. They’ve emphasized over and over again in announcing this, how they want to expand the audience for the Oscars around the world, and YouTube has that infiltration that basically nobody else does.
02:45 Speaker A
And for a streamer like YouTube, Katie, how impactful can an event like the Oscars be? I mean, how how impactful can it be for for eyeballs and subscribers and ad dollars?
02:55 Katie Rich
I mean, YouTube certainly doesn’t lack for eyeballs. They are probably getting more of of people around the world’s attention than any studio currently. But in terms of prestige, in terms of saying, you know, we’re not just a place where you can look up a video for how to fix your washing machine or watch Mr. Beast, we can be somewhere that stars want to be part of.
03:09 Katie Rich
You know, YouTube has not really made high profile celebrity driven shows the way that say Apple or Netflix or Amazon have. So this is sort of their way of saying, we’re not just the every, you know, the everything place, the platform for absolutely anything you want to find, but we’re somewhere where you can, you know, celebrate really the great things in culture.
03:28 Katie Rich
So in terms of advertisers, you know, Rolex has partnered with the Academy for years and years. I wonder if that would be an advertiser that would work on YouTube that wouldn’t otherwise. You know, the plan doesn’t start till 2029, so there’s a lot of details left to work out, but I would imagine on YouTube side of thing, the prestige is maybe more of a draw than the eyeballs themselves.
