While cable and satellite still have significant shares of the television market, the majority of people who watch TV do so through the variety of streaming platforms that viewers have to choose from. While there is very little that you can’t watch through the best streaming services, one area where streaming has struggled is when it comes to live TV. Live sports as well as yearly live broadcasts, like awards shows, are are little harder to find on streaming platforms, but now the biggest movie awards show of them all, The Oscars, is finally making the jump to streaming.
The Oscars have been aired live on ABC for years, and as such the only streaming app that carried the broadcast was ABC’s standalone app, which required a cable or satellite subscription to access. That will change next year, as THR reports that The Oscars will air live via Hulu, rather than simply being available the next day, as had previously been the case. This means anybody with a Hulu subscription will be able to watch the show live, regardless of their cable or satellite setup.
The Oscars On Hulu Should Have Happened A Long Time Ago
As a serious movie fan who loves the Oscars, and as somebody who cut the cord long ago and who has a Hulu subscription, I am over the moon with this news. Watching the Oscars for the past several years has been an absolute pain because the show hasn’t been available through any streaming platform, despite Disney, who owns ABC, having both Hulu and Disney+ at their disposal. It’s not specified if a Disney+ subscription that includes Hulu will allow viewers to watch the Oscars on the Disney+ app, but that seems likely.
The Oscars should have been streaming years ago, but at the end of the day, I’m just glad it’s finally happening. Streaming platforms is where the audience is so it’s where all TV should be at this point. Waiting 24 hours to watch the latest episode of your favorite network TV series is one thing, but when it comes to events like sporting events or award shows, that are aired live for the world to watch together, everything should be available streaming as well as through more traditional linear networks.
The Oscars Isn’t The Only Big Awards Show Streaming Next Year
The Oscars joins the other big awards show early next year, the 2025 Golden Globes, which will stream on Paramount+ alongside being aired live on CBS. Clearly, there is an effort now to make these shows available on streaming. It adds value to the platform and it’s clearly where a lot of the audience wants to be watching.
We already know that a major new streaming app focused on sports is coming next year, and Disney+ just added ESPN+ as a tile on its app, allowing those who have an ESPN+ subscription to access everything through the Disney+ app. We're getting to the point where everything we might want to watch will be easily accessible streaming, and that's a great advancement.
