The Oscars are moving to the Peacock Theater in 2029, their first year on YouTube

An Oscar statue appears at the 91st Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon, Feb. 4, 2019, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Danny Moloshok/Invision/AP, File)

LOS ANGELES — The Oscars are leaving Hollywood.

In 2029, the year the telecast moves from ABC to YouTube, the ceremony itself will move from its longtime home at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood to downtown Los Angeles and the Peacock Theater, 9 miles (14.5 kilometres) away.

The Academy announced Thursday that it has reached a 10-year agreement with AEG, which operates the L.A. Live complex where the Peacock Theater sits.

It’s a surprising move, given that the Dolby was developed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences itself, expressly as a home for the Oscars. The ceremony has been held there since 2002 and provided an especially steady home for the Oscars, which have never stayed in a single venue for such a long stretch. The awards bounced between various LA hotels in its early years, before moving up to theatres in the mid-1940s.

The downtown Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, a fine arts facility that is home to the LA Opera, became heavily identified with the Oscars when it hosted the ceremony from 1968 to 1986. The ceremony then alternated between the Chandler and the Shrine Auditorium, next to the University of Southern California until the long-term move to Hollywood.

The Dolby will continue to host the show as it airs in its final years on ABC, concluding with the 100th Academy Awards in 2028.

The Peacock Theater is next to the Crypto.com Arena, home to the Los Angeles Lakers and Kings. In recent years, the theatre has hosted the Emmy Awards and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction ceremonies.

The academy says in its announcement that, under its agreement, AEG will make major upgrades to the theatre and its tech setup, and will “collaborate closely with the Academy to incorporate bespoke design elements needed to accommodate the Oscars ceremony.”

The Associated Press