The Oscars are coming to YouTube. Is the Super Bowl next? – The New York Times

For the first time ever, the Oscars will leave broadcast TV. Starting in 2029, the biggest non-sports cultural TV event of the year will be exclusively shown on YouTube. YouTube took a big step towards big-event live programming when it aired an NFL game in Week 1 of this season, a Chargers win over the Chiefs in Brazil that drew 18.5 million viewers, per YouTube and Nielsen’s custom measurement. That was just a bit smaller than the audience the 2025 Oscars drew on ABC, a number that was down 14 million viewers from a decade ago.(The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue looked into YouTube’s NFL aspirations.) Meanwhile, YouTube is — by far — the most-watched platform in the U.S. Per Nielsen’s latest “Gauge” metrics, YouTube accounted for 12.9 percent of all TV and streaming consumption in November 2025. That’s: • More than half of all broadcast TV viewing combined • Nearly two-thirds of all cable TV viewing combined • 50 percent more than Netflix • More than the combination of NBC’s Peacock, Paramount+, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ The Athletic’s Dan Shanoff and Andrew Marchand talked about the implications of the deal and what might come next for YouTube and sports. Dan
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