So you’ve decided to watch the Golden Globes this year. Good. Perhaps best described as the “Oscar’s ugly, inebriated stepsister,” the Globes are among the least prestigious of Hollywood’s self-congratulatory award shows, but often the most fun and unpredictable. Love-him-or-hate-him British comedian Ricky Gervais returns to host for the fourth time, and first since 2012, the year when critics decided it was time to take a break from his abrasive brand of humor.
If you pay for traditional TV, you won’t have a problem watching the show. If you don’t, however, you’ll be faced with one of the biggest challenges of cord-cutting: figuring out how to watch live events. Luckily, the part of the evening that many pop culture obsessives care most about—the Red Carpet—will be live streamed on E! Online starting at 5:55pm EST, as well as broadcast on E! in the United States. NBC picks up coverage of the Red Carpet at 7pm EST.
The actual show begins at 8pm EST on NBC in the US. Here’s how to watch:
Watch on regular old TV
About 80% of American households need look no further. If you’re someone who subscribes to a cable TV package that includes broadcast networks like NBC, you probably didn’t even click on this story.
If you pay for cable TV but live outside the US, you still might be able to watch the show on another channel. In Australia, Foxtel will carry the event. In Canada, CTV will air it. Despite the nationality of the evening’s host, the show will not be broadcast on TV in the United Kingdom. Check your local listings to see if any channel in your country will air the ceremony.
Use an antenna—remember those things?
If you own a TV, but don’t pay for cable, you can still watch the show on your TV. One of the staples of cord-cutting is an HD antenna. For about $50, you can hook up an antenna to your TV and watch the main US broadcast networks: ABC, CBS, Fox, CW, and, of course, NBC, for free over the air. Here’s how to do that.
Stream NBC online (legally)—if you live in one of these cities
NBC is included with a subscription to PlayStation Vue, Sony’s internet TV service. The problem is, it’s currently available in only a handful of American cities: Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, or San Francisco.
Stream, a similar service that caters to cord-cutters (operated by traditional TV powerhouse Comcast) also carries NBC, but is only available in Boston and Chicago. Chicagoans have it good, apparently.
Stream NBC online (not exactly legally)
There are a number of seedy, unreliable streams on the internet of American TV channels. Simply Googling “Golden Globes live stream” on Sunday night will lead you to dozens of them. If you’re willing to brave the inordinate number of pop-ups, risk the connection cutting in and out, and deal with the cops who show up at your door (not actually…we think), then this might be the best option for you—not that we at all endorse it.