The Oscars are ditching their Hollywood home for new digs

The move is part of a new deal struck between AMPAS and entertainment venue company AEG, which will see Hollywood’s big night instead becoming “downtown Los Angeles’ big night,” as the Oscars move into the L.A. Live entertainment complex’s Peacock Theater stage.  That means ditching out on the Dolby, which has served as the ceremony’s home since it was opened back in 2001, after being basically custom-built for that purpose; the venue does, admittedly, host some other events on occasion, but it’s definitely going to be hunting around for some other kind of internationally-watched nexus of all mainstream cinematic culture to try to fill this sudden booking gap.

As for the Peacock, it’s become a pretty hot spot in recent years: The Emmys have been held there since 2008 (having thus survived its time as both the Nokia Theater and the Microsoft Theater), while more recent events like The Game Awards have also regularly been held there. (Which makes this whole move just that little extra bit irritating, because Game Awards organizer Geoff Keighley really didn’t need another voice whispering in his head that his glorified trailer showcase is the “Oscars of gaming.”) The deal between AMPAS and AEG includes promised upgrades from AEG to bring the venue up to the Oscars’ standards; the company is promising upgrades to the theater’s “sound and lighting systems, lobbies, backstage facilities and additional production-critical areas.”

2029 is shaping up to be a pretty weird year for the Oscars in general: Besides moving house, it’ll be the first year of a planned deal that will see the ceremony adopt YouTube as its primary broadcast venue. Probably not coincidentally, both of these deals kick in after the Oscars celebrate their 100th anniversary in 2028, allowing them to bid a fond, grand farewell to things like the Dolby Theater and “broadcast television,” before embarking on the exciting new reality of “YouTube’s Academy Awards, brought to you by reruns of The Office.”