The newest company vying to host the Academy Awards might be your friendly, neighbourhood video platform, a.k.a. YouTube. Bloomberg, citing two people familiar with the matter, claims the Alphabet-owned site has inquired about purchasing the rights to air the Academy Awards. Walt Disney's ABC currently holds the air rights for the awards show through at least 2028, but Bloomberg reports that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences is in talks.
YouTube might be a behemoth in the video streaming space, but it still faces tough competition. There isn't just Disney or ABC, there's Comcast's NBCUniversal, Netflix, Amazon, and even Paramount's CBS. But YouTube hasn't shied away from live events. They have acquired the rights for NFL Sunday Ticket and are bidding on other live sports events. So, it might not win the rights for the Oscars outright, but it may get a chance to acquire them.