Credit: Inside The MagicOn Sunday, March 2, Hollywood icons, young and old, came together to celebrate the best that 2024 cinema had to offer. The 97th annual Academy Awards, hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien, featured emotional performances, heartfelt speeches, hilarious jokes, and an unexpected film, Anora, taking home a whopping five awards.
Overall, the show was very well received, with memorable wins and shocking upsets. And we would be remiss if we did not mention the incredible performance by Wicked (2024) stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.
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While the show was very well received and considered an overall success, there was one thing that was an absolute failure — Disney’s livestream of the event on Hulu.
Hulu subscribers, who pay a premium price for live TV, were shocked and angered when they went to watch the Oscars and found they could not log into their accounts. Coverage of the Oscars began at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time, but it was not until 9 p.m. that it was tweeted that the matter was resolved and users should be able to log into their account.
Unfortunately, the problems didn’t end there.
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As most Oscar watchers know, some of the biggest awards are saved for the end of the show. This includes the awards for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Picture.
Sadly, just before Mickey Madison won the award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, Hulu cut the livestream and thanked subscribers for watching. Because of this, those who were live-streaming also missed the award for Best Picture.
Hulu shutting off the Oscars saying its over because nobody contemplated it might run long (which it always does) is peak level incompetence
#Oscars #Oscars2025 #hulu
Hulu shutting off the Oscars saying its over because nobody contemplated it might run long (which it always does) is peak level incompetence#Oscars #Oscars2025 #hulu pic.twitter.com/MuCRHbnR7e
— Danny Seidel (@Dnseidel) March 3, 2025
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Overall, more than 30,000 subscribers reported issues while trying to use their Hulu account to stream the Oscars.
This was Disney’s first attempt to livestream the Academy Awards, and with the massive problems they had, it might be its last.
The annual show has aired on ABC since the 1970s. However, Disney’s contract with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) is set to expire in 2028, and it has yet to be renewed. According to an article from Bloomberg, AMPAS is looking at other options, including airing the Oscars on Netflix and Prime Video.
In addition to struggles with the livestream, audience numbers for the Oscars have been in steep decline in recent years. Over the past decade, viewership has dropped by more than 50 percent. So, AMPAS might be hoping that by moving to a streaming giant like Netflix or Prime Video, they could get viewership to increase.
Then, there is also the issue of price, with Disney making over $100 million in the deal. However, with numbers dropping the way they have been, AMPAS reportedly wants to renegotiate, but Disney isn’t very interested.
Did you watch the Oscars on Hulu? Did you experience an issue livestreaming the event? Do you think AMPAS should ditch Disney and move the Oscars to a different streamer or network? Share your thoughts in the comments!