The 91st Academy Awards are this Sunday (Feb. 24) at 8pm US Eastern time. Like last year, there is no clear favorite for best picture: Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma is forecasted by several sources to be taking a slight lead, especially after the ongoing controversies around frontrunners Green Book and Bohemian Rhapsody.
The ceremony itself is not without its own controversies. It’s officially set to go on sans a host (notoriously the most hated job in Hollywood) after a months-long saga that began when comedian Kevin Hart quit the gig following widespread backlash to his history of making homophobic comments. It was then reported that the Academy planned to “reunite” cast members of Marvel’s Avengers movies as a rotating squad of hosts, but it’s unclear whether they will end up playing a role.
In any case, it’s sure to be a night of surprises, if not a bit of a clusterfuck. Here’s how to tune in:
How to watch the Oscars with a cable TV subscription
The Oscars will air in the US on ABC at 8pm, with the red carpet kicking off at 6:30pm. Those with a cable subscription can tune into ABC when the show starts, and ABC subscribers can log in with their cable credentials and watch the show on ABC.com or via the ABC app (only those in Chicago, Fresno, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Raleigh-Durham and San Francisco can stream online via ABC.) Per usual, E! will have Oscars pre-coverage for most of the day, with its red carpet coverage kicking off at 5pm.
The Oscars will also be broadcast live in dozens of countries outside the US. For a list of countries broadcasting the awards on TV, check here and here as they’re updated.
How to watch the Oscars online
If you have a computer, tablet, or a smartphone, you can stream the show at ABC.com or through the ABC app in select markets. Any of the live internet TV services that include ABC in their packages will stream the Oscars live online to subscribers. That includes Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV, Sling TV, Playstation Vue, DirecTV Now, and others. Hulu will also have the full Oscars broadcast available to subscribers the next day.
Most of these services allow for at least a seven-day free trial. What’s more, if you live outside the US, you could theoretically use a VPN to hoodwink one of these services into thinking you were subscribing from within the US (at your own risk, of course).
Last year, the Academy offered a free “Oscars All Access” behind-the-scenes stream on Oscar.com and its official Facebook page, which began at 6:30pm ET. It’s unclear whether that will be back again this year, but keep an eye out for it.