AI in recruiting: What YouTube's Bid for the Oscars Means for Media, Audiences and Talent

In a recent segment I discussed on Bloomberg Technology, I explored why YouTube has quietly inquired about acquiring the broadcast rights to the Academy Awards. As the host and reporter in that piece, I wanted to expand on the implications here — not only for TV and film, but for how platforms recruit audiences, talent and advertisers. This is as much a story about modern attention markets as it is about entertainment. And yes, if you're interested in how platforms scout and attract people — think of it through the lens of AI in recruiting — the parallels are revealing.

Why YouTube is even in the conversation

Let's start with the simple fact that makes this conversation plausible: YouTube is the dominant video platform. As I noted, "YouTube is the single most popular video platform, by any metric." That popularity isn't limited to mobile phones or desktops. Increasingly, viewers are watching YouTube on televisions. In fact, people spend more time watching YouTube on a TV than all of Disney's television networks and streaming services combined. Those viewership numbers make the platform an attractive vehicle for any live event that wants maximum audience reach.

That reach is a core reason YouTube would be interested in the Oscars. Award shows, particularly the Oscars, have an institutional value that extends beyond ratings: prestige, cultural influence, and advertiser appeal. If the Academy wants to maximize viewers — especially younger viewers who grew up on YouTube — partnering with a platform that already commands large TV screen time could be a powerful way to reinvent the broadcast model.

Who else is bidding and why the landscape is shifting

The current situation is unusual because Disney and ABC have held exclusive rights for roughly five decades. They had the first negotiation window and let it lapse. That move, combined with Disney's recent investments in other awards shows like the Grammys, opened the door to a roster of contenders: Disney, Paramount, Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, and even Comcast/NBCUniversal. Each brings different strategic priorities.

• Legacy broadcasters (Disney/ABC, NBCUniversal): They bring tradition and a built-in older audience demographic that still favors linear TV. The Oscars have historically aligned with this viewer profile.
• Streamers (Netflix, Amazon, Paramount): They offer controlled distribution, global reach, and strong marketing synergies with their film slates. Streamers are used to paying for licensing and exclusivity to attract and retain subscribers.
• YouTube: It brings scale, ad-driven monetization, and the youngest large-scale TV audience of the group. YouTube's strength is ubiquity and algorithmic distribution.

Which one wins will depend on what the Academy prioritizes: tradition and prestige, guaranteed revenue, global access, or raw reach and engagement.

What YouTube offers beyond reach

Reach is the headline, but YouTube offers more subtle, structural advantages. The platform's recommendation systems and data give it deep insight into viewer preferences and behavior. That translates into targeted advertising opportunities, cross-promotion across creators, and interactive elements that linear TV can't match. Those are reasons the Academy might at least consider a platform like YouTube.

Think of it this way: the Academy isn't just selling a TV slot; it's selling an opportunity to amplify culture, influence careers, and bring movies to public attention. YouTube can provide high-resolution audience signals in ways broadcasters traditionally could not. That has value for advertisers and for filmmakers seeking attention during awards season.

Why the Film Academy might hesitate

Despite the upside, there are legitimate reasons the Academy could shy away from YouTube. Many members of the film community view the Oscars as part of a traditional ecosystem — studios, networks, and film festivals — and not as content that belongs on a platform associated with user-generated videos, influencers and algorithmic promotion.

The Academy will weigh prestige and perception. An awards show isn't just about numbers; it's a cultural ritual. There's concern that moving to a platform like YouTube could change the ceremony's tone, presentation, and how winners are perceived by the industry. For a group that prizes artistic recognition, the hosting platform matters.

How this relates to talent and hiring — and AI in recruiting

Now let's bridge to another idea that matters to modern organizations: recruiting. In many ways, platforms like YouTube are engaging in a kind of talent and audience recruiting — they find, attract and retain users and creators the way companies hire employees. That process increasingly leans on algorithms, data and automation: the very tools that make AI in recruiting a hot topic in HR and talent acquisition.

AI in recruiting changes the game by automating candidate sourcing, scoring resumes, and matching people to roles using predictive analytics. Similarly, YouTube uses algorithms to match content to viewers, effectively recruiting attention. Both systems raise similar questions about fairness, bias, and the tension between efficiency and human judgment.

When evaluating a platform for a flagship event like the Oscars, the Academy should consider how algorithmic curation affects exposure. If a platform prioritizes engagement metrics that favor short-form or sensational material, will the ceremony's nuanced moments get the same lift? This is where the principles behind AI in recruiting — transparency, fairness, and human oversight — are relevant. The Academy can demand assurances about how content will be surfaced, moderated, and monetized.

Moreover, studios and casting directors are themselves experimenting with AI in recruiting actors and crews — using data to find audience-tested talent and efficient teams. If the Oscars move to a platform that uses similar data-driven discovery, it might accelerate how talent is sourced, promoted, and recognized.

Practical implications for filmmakers, advertisers and viewers

If the Oscars migrate to a platform like YouTube, several practical changes would follow:

1. Audience composition: Expect a younger, more globally distributed audience. That could influence which films gain visibility during awards season.
2. Monetization: Advertising and sponsorship models would likely evolve, mixing pre-roll, mid-roll, brand integrations and creator partnerships with traditional network spots.
3. Engagement tools: Live comments, polls, and behind-the-scenes content could increase interactivity, but they also risk distracting from the ceremony's gravitas.
4. Career effects: Winning an Oscar on a widely distributed, algorithmically promoted platform could have different publicity outcomes. The mechanics of exposure — how clips are shared, how winners trend — would change.

For advertisers, the change could be a boon. Targeted ads and measurable outcomes are easier on digital platforms. For filmmakers, the move could be double-edged: broader reach but a potential shift in how prestige is signaled. And for viewers, the ceremony could become more participatory, though not everyone will welcome that shift.

What the Academy should consider before making a deal

If I were advising the Academy, I'd ask a few hard questions:

• Do we prioritize maximum audience size or the traditional prestige and production values associated with broadcast TV?
• Can the platform guarantee editorial control, production standards and a presentation that aligns with the Academy's ethos?
• How will the platform's algorithms influence which moments of the ceremony get amplified and how winners are discussed?
• What protections exist to ensure that AI-driven recommendations don't unintentionally bias exposure against certain films or creators?
• What revenue guarantees and reporting transparency can the platform provide?

These considerations mirror the same careful evaluation companies undertake when they implement AI in recruiting: they seek performance gains without compromising fairness, transparency, or mission-critical values.

Possible futures and hybrid models

The most likely outcome might be a hybrid approach. A platform could acquire streaming rights while a broadcast partner handles linear distribution, or the Academy could license highlights to traditional networks. That model preserves prestige and the reach of modern platforms.

Another scenario is a time-delayed model, where the live event streams exclusively on a platform, with a packaged broadcast later. Each option has trade-offs between immediacy, accessibility, and revenue.

Whatever path the Academy chooses, the move highlights a broader truth: major cultural institutions are being assessed not just on historical fit, but on their ability to recruit and retain attention in an increasingly fragmented media landscape. That same dynamic is at play in hiring, where AI in recruiting is reshaping how organizations find and keep talent.

Conclusion: A watershed moment for attention markets

The inquiry from YouTube into the Oscars rights is less about one event and more about how power in media is shifting. Platforms that once lived alongside legacy media are now contenders for marquee cultural moments. That shift forces long-standing institutions to ask what matters more: tradition or reach, ceremony or accessibility, curated prestige or algorithmic scale.

For the Academy, this is a moment to define its priorities carefully. For creators and studios, it's a chance to rethink how awards season shapes careers in an era where platforms recruit attention — and talent — with increasing sophistication. And for people who study recruitment and hiring, the parallels are clear: whether you're acquiring viewers or employees, the rules, tools and ethical questions are converging. AI in recruiting is one lens that helps us understand these broader changes.

Finally, as we watch these negotiations unfold, it's worth remembering that change in media rarely eliminates tradition — it transforms it. The Oscars may look and feel different in the years ahead, but the stakes remain the same: recognizing achievement, shaping careers and connecting great work with an audience. How platforms, algorithms and human judgment combine to make that happen will define the next chapter of both entertainment and the many ways organizations recruit and reward talent.

If you want to dig deeper into the discussion and hear the original reporting, check out the Bloomberg Technology segment where I first raised these points.