Oscars 2017 Live Stream: How to Watch Online
By Lacy Baugher
The 89th annual Academy Awards will air this Sunday on ABC. Here’s all the Oscars news you need to get ready to watch online.
Hollywood’s biggest and brightest stars will all be in attendance this Sunday at the 89th annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles. Comedian Jimmy Kimmel is the host for this year’s Oscars ceremony. And we’re all just basically waiting to see whether La La Land will sweep its 14 nominations, and carry us all to victory in our office Oscar pools.
The always-entertaining red carpet coverage will kick off at 7 p.m. ET on ABC. The ceremony itself begins at 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT. If you’ve got a television, just tune to your local ABC station and you’ll be good to go.
But what if you would rather watch the big Oscars show online?
Unfortunately, the Oscars are making it kind of difficult to watch this year’s ceremony. Or at least if you don’t want to watch it on a traditional television. An official live stream exists. Sort of. If you happen to live in the right place. The live stream is currently available in limited geographic areas and may depend on your provider. (ABC says they’re working to make it available to more viewers. Maybe next year.)
"“The ABC live stream is currently available in the following markets: Chicago, Fresno, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Raleigh-Durham and San Francisco with a participating TV provider. Customers with a DirecTV subscription in the following markets will also be able to watch the ABC live stream: Albuquerque, Boston, Ft. Smith/Fayetteville, Jackson (Mississippi), Kansas City, Milwaukee, Monterey-Salinas, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Pittsburgh, Portland-Auburn (Maine), Savannah and West Palm Beach. You must be located within each available station’s local viewing area and must verify your participating TV provider account for access to the ABC live stream in your area.”"
Some of these seem kind of strange, right? And sorry, if you happen to live in a major market such as Atlanta, Miami or Washington, D.C. No live stream for you!
However, if you meet these criteria, then you can stream the Oscars on their website ABC.com, or via the ABC app. The app works with iOS, Android, and Kindle Fire devices, and is also available on set-top versions such as Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV. Another method for online streaming is through Sling TV or Playstation Vue. (The same geographic restrictions apply.)
To make things even more confusing, ABC will also offer The Oscars: All Access online. This separate live stream won’t feature the actual ceremony or the red carpet pre-show either. But it will air interviews with nominees and presenters backstage. So it’s an option, of sorts.
Next: Oscars 2017 Printable Ballot
Who will take home the big awards on Oscar night? Tune in this Sunday night and find out!