Ellen DeGeneres is hosting a monumental ceremony on Sunday, the first Oscars to ever stream live. The 86th annual Academy Awards will not only be airing on television as usual, but will be streamed live through WATCH ABC.com and the WATCH ABC app. Busy movie-loving workers on the go should not leave their iPad, iPhone, or Androids at home, come Sunday.
Although there is a potential for a vast increase in the number of viewers, there are some limiting factors. According to USA Today, access will only be provided for people with cable subscriptions through Comcast, Cablevision, Cox Communications, Charter Communications, Midcontinent Communications, Verizon FiOS, Goggle Fiber, or AT&T U-Verse in either New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Raleigh-Durham, or Fresno. The strategy should be familiar to anyone who tried to stream the recently concluded Olympics.
For those not in any of those locations, the show will, of course, still be available on network television. Additionally, Oscars Backstage is offering a “second screen experience” hosted by Ben Lyons (entertainment reporter and film critic), Hitha Prabhakar (ABC World News contributor), Peter Castro (PEOPLE Magazine), and Chris Connelly (Good Morning America). This platform will provide access to channels including the Winners Walk and Pressroom. Additionally, this will provide access to a “Thank you cam” and a behind-the-scenes look at the post-award winning actors.
If ABC’s live stream and Oscars Backstage “second experience” aren’t enough, video highlights from the ‘Oscars Backstage’ and live telecast can be viewed quickly after they air at oscar.com/blogs.
The Oscars will take place this Sunday, March 2 at 7ET/4PT.