As they say: better late than never. With award ceremonies not drawing the ratings they used to, heading to streaming always seemed like the next logical step, as viewing habits have certainly changed in recent years. Other ceremonies have done this already (the SAG Awards airs on Netflix), but now theOscarsis joining the fray, announcing plans to stream Hollywood’s biggest night in conjunction with the live ceremony on ABC.
PerThe Wrap, ABC announced that the 97th Annual Academy Awards will stream live on Hulu, marking the first time the ceremony will be available to stream for people who don’t have cable. For those still wanting to watch the traditional way on network TV, the Oscars will still air live on ABC beginning at 4:00 PM PST/7:00 PM EST on Sunday, August 13, 2025. Can’t watch the ceremony live in either format? Don’t worry about it! The 97th annual event will also be available to stream on Hulu the very next day.
The Hulu live-streaming announcement comes with theofficial key art for the event, which fully outlines how viewers can tune in, on either ABC or Hulu live. ABC isn’t suggesting that the Oscars will become an exclusive streaming event by any means, since the ceremony has aired on the network for 50 consecutive years, but the announcement does show that execs are aware of how viewers consume content. Speaking from a personal perspective, I have a good friend in Canada who struggles each year to watch the telecast live because he lacks access to ABC, but given the fact that he has Hulu, this news will be music to his ears as he won’t have to figure out anOcean’s 11–style hack to check out the Academy Awards.
Conan O’Brien Will Be Hosting the Oscars for the First Time
This year’s Academy Awards is shaping up to be quite the event now that several key pieces are in place. After Jimmy Kimmel, who has hosted multiple times, including this year’s ceremony,turned down the offerto host again, it was a mad scramble to figure out who would be running the show. Numerous names were thrown around, withDeadpool and Wolverineduo Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman even being considered. Once the dust settled,Conan O’Brien was chosen to hostthe ceremony, marking his first time hosting the big event.
The Academy Awards also has the potential to be bigger than in most recent years depending on which films score nominations.Wickedis a big frontrunner right now for nominations, and it would be huge for the ceremony should it be nominated in several major categories. The film has proven to be very popular, recently surpassingGreaseas the highest-grossing movie musical at the domestic box office, so there is no doubt fans would tune in to see ifWickedtakes home top honors.
Given the potential of tentpole films and more prestige offerings being represented, the 97th Annual Academy Awards could have something for everyone to be excited about. It has been a great year for movies, and it will no doubt be capped off with a great ceremony to celebrate it.
The 97th Academy Awards will air live on ABC (and stream live on Hulu!) on August 19, 2025.
