TechCrunch Daily Crunch YouTube will stream the Oscars exclusively
Dec 18, 2025
YouTube is set to stream the Oscars exclusively from 2029 to 2033, outbidding ABC in a major shift for award broadcasts. Meanwhile, Google has launched Gemini 3 Flash, showcasing impressive multimodal features and performance benchmarks. In a surprising move, YouTube will also stop sharing data with Billboard due to dissatisfaction with their ranking formula, prompting changes in how music performance is measured.
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Gemini 3 Flash Stakes A Claim
- Google launched Gemini 3 Flash as a fast, cheap model and made it the default in the Gemini app and Search AI mode.
- The model matches some frontier models on benchmarks and improves multimodal understanding and visual answers.
YouTube Pulls Data Over Chart Formula
- YouTube is withdrawing its music streaming data from Billboard over a change that favors paid streams.
- YouTube objects to weighting paid and free streams differently and will stop providing data after January 16, 2026.
Oscars Move To YouTube Beginning 2029
- YouTube won exclusive global streaming rights to the Oscars from 2029 through 2033, ending ABC's long run.
- The deal moves the Oscars fully to streaming and promises free live access to over 2 billion viewers on YouTube.