17 Aug YouTube Makes a Play for the Oscars [Bloomberg]
BY LUCAS SHAW
August 17, 2025 | Most of the companies vying to be the next home of the Oscars won’t surprise you. Walt Disney’s ABC has aired the show for almost five decades. Comcast’s NBCUniversal is hungry for more live events. Netflix is Netflix. Amazon is spending a lot of money on live programming and original movies. And Paramount’s CBS just lost the Grammys.
But there is one surprise: YouTube. The Google-owned video site has inquired about buying the rights to the Academy Awards, according to two people familiar with the matter.
YouTube has demonstrated a growing interest in live events, acquiring the rights to the NFL Sunday Ticket and bidding on other live sports. Just this week it crowed about how many people watched the New Heights podcast live, thanks to Taylor Swift.
Supplanting ABC and Disney as the official home of the Academy Awards — Hollywood’s most prestigious awards show — would be a huge statement from YouTube and a shock to the industry. YouTube was considered a thieving pariah not too long ago.
It would also be very loud, which is the whole point. Shifting the program to YouTube would generate a lot of attention for a show that has been losing relevance each year.
YouTube is the single most-watched video platform in the world and the king of all media. It could deliver eyeballs and offer a giant global platform.
That doesn’t mean YouTube will get the rights. The show will air on ABC through at least 2028, and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences is in the middle of negotiations. Many of the bidders can offer both a broadcast network and a streaming service. At least three of the bidders own major movie studios that prioritize theaters.
But the Oscars is a TV show and Hollywood is all about the bottom line. Stay tuned.