….in 2029!

To be honest, I’m not really surprised by this move.  It’s been a long time since the Oscar ceremony brought in monster ratings.  Movies themselves have moved from being something that bring people together to instead becoming something of a niche interest.  The movies that win awards are now often very different from the movies that people are paying to see.  As well, we’re now in a culture where we see celebrities almost 24 hours a day.  The enigmatic glamour that once went along with celebrity culture is gone and with it, the excitement that made the Oscars a television mainstay.

So, it makes sense.  Moving the Oscars to YouTube will mean no longer having to deal with ABC demanding that the Academy give out awards like Oscar Cheers Moment or that Best Popular Film Oscar that they tried to get the Academy to include a few years ago.  One presumes the Academy will now control the show, though apparently commercials will still air during the broadcast.

That said, I don’t think this movie is going to make the Oscars relevant again.  It’s too late for that.  The Oscars will be 101 years old by the time they move to YouTube and the ceremony is still going to face the task of holding viewer’s attention for 3+ hours.  The Academy will no longer have to go through the humiliating post-show ritual of trying to make the bad ratings look good.  But they will have to deal with the trolls in the comments.

My prediction is that the other awards shows will also be exclusively streaming by 2029.  The Oscars are opening the dam.  Why would a network waste money broadcasting the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards if the Oscars aren’t even going to be on ABC?  Eventually, everyone will have a different awards show to choose from.  The sequel to Sound of Freedom will win Best Picture at one ceremony while the prequel to One Battle After Another wins at another and, at another ceremony, the latest Marvel film will compete with the latest DC film.

The Oscars had a good run as an American institution.

But nothing lasts forever.