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đŹ Movies: The Oscars head to YouTube
The world's most famous award show will be live online from 2029.
Imran Khan
December 20, 2025
Analysing meaning and power through language.
Hi Signposter. Another nail was hammered into the coffin of terrestrial television this week when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the United States announced they will take the worldâs most prestigious movie award show to YouTube, exclusively, from 2029 onwards. Fittingly, this coincides with the awardâs 101st edition. Which means that the Oscars will begin its second century not on television but online.
Last week we discussed Netflix buying Warner Bros., and this week we see another 100 year-old film institution going to an online streaming platform. 2026 is gearing up to be the year when the locus of movie-making officially moves online.
Will cinemas go the way of theatres, expensive and niche? Will the movie going experience, the great equaliser of popular culture, be resigned to catering to a higher socio-economic strata? Itâs worth mentioning here that these moves are primarily being made in the United States, though as the worldâs most important movie market and the worldâs largest exporter of culture (artistic, technological, and business), it is likely we will all be feeling the impacts of these moves in some form, in case we arenât already.
In this penultimate issue of Signpost for 2025, we will analyse the official press release from the Academy to identify the power players in this story.
THIS WEEK
đŹ The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences - The Academy Partners with YouTube for Exclusive Global Rights to the OscarsÂŽ and other Academy Content Starting in 2029
Gif by oscars on Giphy
Here is the entire text of the press release, verbatim from the official website of the Oscars, with specific words and phrases highlighted for semiotic analysis below:
LOS ANGELES, CA â The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and YouTube signed a multi-year deal that will give YouTube the exclusive global rights to the OscarsÂŽ, beginning in 2029 with the 101st Oscars ceremony and running through 2033.
The Oscars, including red carpet coverage, behind-the-scenes content, Governors Ball access, and more, will be available live and for free to over 2 billion viewers around the world on YouTube, and to YouTube TV subscribers in the United States. YouTube will help make the Oscars accessible to the Academyâs growing global audience through features such as closed captioning and audio tracks available in multiple languages.
The partnership also will include worldwide access for film fans to other Academy events and programs exclusively on the Oscars YouTube channel. This will include the Governors Awards, the Oscars Nominations Announcement, the Oscars Nominees Luncheon, the Student Academy Awards, the Scientific and Technical Awards, Academy member and filmmaker interviews, film education programs, podcasts, and more.
In addition, through this holistic partnership, the Google Arts & Culture initiative will help provide digital access to select Academy Museum exhibitions and programs and help to digitize components of the Academy Collectionâthe largest film-related collection in the world, with more than 52 million items. It will be a true hub for film fans and will be accessible from around the world.
âWe are thrilled to enter into a multifaceted global partnership with YouTube to be the future home of the Oscars and our year-round Academy programming,â said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Lynette Howell Taylor. âThe Academy is an international organization, and this partnership will allow us to expand access to the work of the Academy to the largest worldwide audience possible â which will be beneficial for our Academy members and the film community. This collaboration will leverage YouTubeâs vast reach and infuse the Oscars and other Academy programming with innovative opportunities for engagement while honoring our legacy. We will be able to celebrate cinema, inspire new generations of filmmakers and provide access to our film history on an unprecedented global scale.â
âThe Oscars are one of our essential cultural institutions, honoring excellence in storytelling and artistry,â said Neal Mohan, CEO, YouTube. âPartnering with the Academy to bring this celebration of art and entertainment to viewers all over the world will inspire a new generation of creativity and film lovers while staying true to the Oscarsâ storied legacy.â
The Academyâs domestic partnership for the Oscars will continue with Disney ABC through the 100th Oscars in 2028, as will the international partnership for the Oscars with Disneyâs Buena Vista International.
CONTEXT
1ď¸âŁ What is happening?
Do you remember who won Best Picture at this yearâs Oscars? The last movie I remember winning anything was back in 2020 when Bong Joon-hoâs Parasite stormed the ceremony, winning Best Picture, Directing, Original Screenplay, and International Feature. I donât really remember the winners from the last five years.
And thatâs partially the challenge. Hollywood has been battered by several storms in the last five years, starting with the pandemic that pushed people to watch all their movies at home, followed by labour disputes (read: strikes) by the writersâ and actorsâ unions in 2023. Every major Hollywood movie studio (bar Sony Pictures) has poured massive amounts of resources and time into building their version of Netflix, with middling success (read last weekâs Signpost for more).
With more people watching stuff on smaller screens, and with choices driven by algorithms, the appetite for content has never been higher. Yet because of this new, hyper-personalised content industry, the greater mono culture, which Hollywood absolutely thrived in, has been destroyed. Itâs unlikely we will ever experience a global movie going event like Avengers: Endgame back in 2019. Now, everybody watches what they want by themselves. Movies, which were the great collective community experience, has been out manoeuvred by free, algorithmically driven content platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok (this is not even including Netflix and kin).
This means that the Oscars, for all itâs Golden-Age-of-Hollywood pomp and celebrity, has been losing viewers, peaking way back in 1998 when 57 million viewers watched Titanic take home 11 awards. Earlier this year, a little under 20 million viewers watched Anora take home five awards (how many of you have heard of Anora?).
In this fight against obsolescence, the Oscars have finally admitted defeat, acknowledging that they have to be where the people are â online. And while this is a paradigm shift for the Academy, moving from TV to online streaming, it isnât the first time. The first ceremony, back in 1929, was not broadcast at all. The second was broadcast on radio. The 25th ceremony, back in 1953, was the first broadcast on television.
The 101st will be streamed online.
2ď¸âŁ What was written, and to whom?
The press release was published by the Academy on their official website, but the story spoke to not only Hollywood, but the greater global entertainment industry. After a century of existence, the Oscars would live exclusively online (until 2033). If this isnât signposting the present (and possible future) of movies, I donât know what is.
ANALYSING THE TEXT
Words / Phrases | What it Says | What it Means |
|---|---|---|
give YouTube the exclusive global rights | the Academy is partnering with YouTube globally | the Academy needs YouTube to access a global audience |
101st Oscars ceremony | after a century of Oscar ceremonies | looking towards the next century of Oscar ceremonies |
available live and for free to over 2 billion viewers around the world on YouTube | the Academy can now access a world audience of billions via YouTube | the only way for the Oscars to remain relevant is to look outside the United States |
the Academyâs growing global audience | the audience for the Oscars is growing outside the United States | the audience for the Oscars is shrinking inside the United States |
Google Arts & Culture initiative will help | with extra support from Googleâs other initiatives | Google will help us with funding and money |
âThe Academy is an international organizationâ | the Academy is the global home of film | being an âAmericanâ film institution doesnât have the same prestige like it used to |
âThe Oscars are one of our essential cultural institutionsâ | the Oscars are one of the worldâs essential cultural institutions | the Oscars are one of YouTubeâs essential cultural institutions |
DECONSTRUCTING THE TEXT
đď¸ Unlocking Meaning
In case the press release doesnât make it abundantly clear, this development allows the Oscars to reach an international audience. Either the Academy have realised that they have lost relevance within their local American audience, or they are trying to reposition themselves as the home of global cinema, not just American. With the rise of streaming and Netflix, the biggest winner (apart from the United States) has been Korea. Korean movies and TV shows regularly top the most watched lists not only in the U.S. but around the world. The Academy has realised that there is a strong and fast growing film industry that sits outside their jurisdiction.
Rebuilding and growing a domestic U.S. audience is not only harder for the Academy to do, itâs likely they donât see the value in it. With the loss of mono culture, they may have recognised that they need to control the narrative of their own industry online and tap into multiple global niche cultures in order to remain relevant. Thatâs not something they can do while still showing on domestic TV in their home market.
đ Power Play
The Academy has 3.9 million followers on Facebook, 3.3 million subscribers on YouTube, 5.3 million followers on Instagram, 857,000 followers on Threads, 3.4 million followers on TikTok, and another 3.8 million followers on X (formerly Twitter). These are not unique audiences, and will definitely have significant overlap. But these are millions of people that chose to engage with the Academy all year round, not just on the night of the Oscars. That by itself is a more valuable audience that a one-night-a-year TV audience of barely 20 million.
Nowadays, people are more likely to follow their favourite stars and creators than follow an event. The Olympics in recent years has become the biggest spotlight on individual athletes and their TikTok accounts. The same can be said of the movies as well. YouTube is filled with YouTube-only videos that regularly interview and engage with Hollywood stars (Hot Ones and Chicken Shop Date are two food-based shows that come to mind). Also, every Hollywood star now has a podcast. Which live on Spotify and⌠YouTube. The 2025 and 2026 host of the Oscars has his own massive podcast.
Moving the Oscars online also, preemptively, signals the Academyâs begrudging acceptance of streaming-only movie studios. Netflix regularly racks up multiple nominations every year, yet rarely wins. Apple TV+âs Coda remains the only streaming studio movie to win Best Picture. We may see many more in the next century of the Oscars.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Tell me your reasoning. In next weekâs issue, Iâll highlight the most thought-provoking responses.
LAST WEEKâS RESPONSES
In response to last weekâs Signpost on Netflix buying Warner Bros., I am not sure if Netflix will make such a big move for live sports. At least, not yet. But then again, their entire live sports focus has been on major flagship events, and Formula One gives Netflix 24 flagships a year.
NEXT WEEK ON SIGNPOST
Itâs the last issue of the year. Thank you for sticking with me. News broke this morning (Friday 19th December) of TikTokâs US sale. I want to analyse TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chewâs internal memo to employees, if itâs leaked to media. Donât hold your breath.
Also, Merry Christmas đ.
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