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The Oscars ceremony will begin airing only on YouTube in the year 2029, marking the latest significant transformation in the film industry.

The organization behind the Oscars made the announcement on this week, confirming that it finalized a multi-year deal giving YouTube the unique international license to the Oscars until 2033.

The awards show, set for March 15th, has aired for 50 years on the traditional network. Commencing in 2029, the event will be accessible live and for free on YouTube.

It's a further substantial upheaval in Hollywood, which is navigating studio sales and mergers, coupled with drastic slashes to movie budgets.

"The Academy is an global institution, and this partnership will permit us to broaden reach to the mission of the Academy to the largest worldwide audience imaginable - which will be positive for our membership and the cinematic world," said the Academy's executives in a statement.

Over decades, ratings of the awards show have dropped, even if there was a small rise in recent years, with a considerable amount of youthful audiences tuning in from cell phones and desktops.

In a separate statement, YouTube's CEO described the Oscars "one of our essential cultural institutions" and noted that partnering with the Academy would "spark a new generation of creativity and cinema enthusiasts while remaining faithful to the Oscars' celebrated history".

ABC, which has streamed the ceremony since the mid-1970s, said that it was looking forward "to the upcoming broadcasts" it will still host.

This decision coincides with major studios face challenging merger discussions. Such proposals were viewed as unfavourable for an industry that has experienced severe reductions over the past several years.

Like major studios, cable networks have struggled as the audience has chosen on-demand video instead.

The platform securing the license to the Oscars further suggests that the dominance of digital platforms will carry on increasing.