Hollywood’s Biggest Award Show Is Changing Forever

Hollywood may be too warm to enjoy four real seasons, but there’s one season that’s never missed: award season. From the Emmys in the fall to the Tonys in late spring, all eyes are on who’s taking home what prize.

But only the Academy Awards get to advertise as “Hollywood’s Biggest Night.” The Oscars celebrate the best and brightest in movies, and the ceremony itself is one of the most important nights of television, sometimes even winning its own award. But in just a few years, the Oscars will undergo their biggest change since they were first televised in 1953.

Since 1976, the Oscars have aired on the Disney-owned ABC. But according to The Hollywood Reporter, that will change after the ceremony’s 100th anniversary in 2028. Starting in 2029, the Oscars will be aired live and for free on YouTube, marking the first time a major Hollywood awards ceremony has been moved to streaming. It’s become increasingly common for live sports to hit streaming platforms, with Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+ all dabbling in their own presentations, but something with the cultural cachet of the Oscars making the jump is new.

There will still be a few years of the typical broadband Oscars experience, but this is a major shift for the awards landscape. That said, it does make sense — more and more viewers are cord-cutters, making the Oscars one of the few times that owning a typical broadcast TV package is necessary. Even that’s already changed — starting with the 97th Oscars this year, the ceremony is also available for Hulu subscribers.

This is likely an omen of what’s to come. As streamers take on an increasingly central role in the TV world, it’s likely that the biggest television events of the year, from award ceremonies to the Olympics, are going to take a streaming-first approach. At this point, many of the Oscars frontrunners are already streaming. Why not stream the ceremony too?

The 98th Academy Awards will air on March 15, 2026, on ABC and Hulu.