The annual Academy Awards telecast will move from the ABC broadcast network to stream live on YouTube around the world starting in 2029, organisers said on Wednesday.

Walt Disney-owned ABC has televised the Oscars, the film industry's highest honours, every year since 1976.

Ratings for the show, along with all Hollywood awards shows, have declined as audiences moved to streaming platforms.

The 2025 Oscars in March brought in 19.7 million US viewers, a five-year high but far below the show's biggest audience of 57 million in 1998. This year's ceremony also streamed live on Hulu.

Financial details for the pact with YouTube were not disclosed.

ABC made a bid to keep the Oscars but did not want to overpay, according to a source familiar with the matter. The network had found it harder in recent years to turn a profit from the show, the source said.

YouTube will provide closed captioning and audio tracks in multiple languages to make the show accessible to a global audience, according to a statement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and YouTube. The agreement will start with the 2029 Oscars ceremony and run through 2033.

"The Oscars are one of our essential cultural institutions, honouring excellence in storytelling and artistry," YouTube CEO Neal Mohan said in a statement.

The film academy said it would benefit from YouTube's global reach.

"We will be able to celebrate cinema, inspire new generations of filmmakers and provide access to our film history on an unprecedented global scale," Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Lynette Howell Taylor said in a statement.

In addition to the Oscars, YouTube will stream events including the Academy's Governors Awards and Oscar nominees luncheon, two events that have typically taken place off-camera.

ABC will air the Academy Awards telecast in the United States as planned in 2026, 2027 and 2028, the year that marks the Oscars' 100th anniversary. (Reuters)