YouTube Could Host the Oscars as ABC Steps Back From TV Rights

NBCUniversal and YouTube have emerged as the frontrunners for the next Academy Awards broadcast deal, while Netflix is out of the running and ABC is seen as taking a less aggressive approach.

ABC has held the Oscars for nearly 50 years and may relinquish the rights when its current contract expires in 2028. Variety is now reporting on the NBC and YouTube momentum for the next deal.

Last year, Disney/ABC and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) were negotiating a deal reportedly worth over $100M per year, but discussions have stalled since then. According to Variety, the Academy is seeking a contract term of 5–10 years for its next agreement, which YouTube is notably game for.

ABC has long been the Oscars’ broadcast partner and currently holds rights through 2028, which would mark the network’s 50th telecast of the ceremony, culminating in the milestone 100th Oscars. If YouTube were to win the rights, it would send shockwaves through Hollywood, but maybe the good kind…

It’s not as far-fetched as it may seem. YouTube is the world’s most-watched video platform, and if the Academy is aiming to chase eyeballs and regain cultural relevance, the platform could deliver a global audience that no traditional broadcaster could match. This isn’t anything like, say, Warner Bros being acquired by Netflix. It’s actually beneficial for the Academy, and really, moviegoers at large.

Fact remains that U.S. viewership for the Oscars has collapsed more than 60% since its peak in the late 1990s and is half of what it was just a decade ago. Many viewers now skip the live broadcast entirely, opting instead to watch highlights online the following day.

Ratings for this past March’s Oscars ceremony were down by about 7% from last year. Around 18.1M people tuned in to the telecast. Isn’t it amazing how in 2014, just a little over ten years ago, ratings reached an impressive 44M viewers? When compared to this year’s telecast, that’s a loss of 26 million set of eyeballs. It’s an astounding drop in relevance.

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