Oscars Headed to YouTube in 2029, Moving to a Bigger Theatre — Inside the Academy's $187 Million Plan
The Oscars will leave traditional broadcast television and air on YouTube starting in 2029, a shift Academy president Lynette Howell Taylor says could put the ceremony in front of up to 2 billion people worldwide. Howell Taylor and CEO Bill Kramer laid out the plan — along with a $187 million annual budget, a new venue, and a stance on artificial intelligence — at the Academy's all-members virtual meeting on a Tuesday in August 2026. Roughly 11,000 members were invited to the session, which covers the organisation's leadership, finances, and priorities. Variety
The ceremony is also changing addresses. A deal with AEG will move the Oscars from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood — home to the show since 2002, with about 3,400 seats — to the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles, which holds roughly 7,000. Kramer said the move was driven partly by giving Academy members better access to tickets. More seats means more of the organisation's own people in the room.
The Academy's budget for the year running July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027 breaks down across several categories. Awards expenses — the Oscars telecast, the nominees luncheon, and related dinners — account for 23%. Personnel costs across programs take the largest share at 41%. Foundation operations claim 19%, Academy programs and operations 12%, and bond repayment 5%. For context, Kramer noted that in the past, 90% of the Academy's operating revenues came from the Academy Awards themselves.
That dependence on a single night is what the Academy 100 Revenue Diversification Campaign is designed to reduce. Launched two years ago, it has raised $308 million toward a $500 million goal by the end of 2028. Major donors include Netflix, Sony Pictures Entertainment, NBCUniversal, and Apple. Luxury brands have signed on too — Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Giorgio Armani, and Tiffany & Co — bringing the fashion world's commercial weight behind the institution that celebrates it on the red carpet.
On artificial intelligence, Howell Taylor was firm but measured. She said the Academy is "fully engaged" on AI and new technologies, and that its responsibility is not to be driven by fear or hype but to take part in industry conversations about how these tools are used and developed. Technology, she said, should serve human creativity, not replace it — and human authorship remains essential. That stance follows rule changes announced in May 2026 for the 98th Oscars, which for the first time address AI use in performances and scripts, alongside new provisions for multiple acting nominations and expanded international film eligibility. AP News
The membership itself is growing. The Academy invited 529 new members in 2026, a group that includes 95 Oscar nominees (21 of them winners) and three Scientific and Technical Award recipients. If every invitee accepts, total membership would reach 11,319, with 10,338 voting members. Oscars.org
For anyone who watches the Oscars from their sofa, the practical changes are still a few years away. But the direction is clear: a bigger room, a platform that already reaches every corner of the globe, and an organisation working to make sure the business behind the golden statue can stand on more than one night a year.
