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Watch Academy Awards Free: Get Live Oscars Coverage Without Cable

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I’m looking forward to watching the 96th Academy Awards ceremony in 2024, airing on Sunday, March 10th at on ABC. Best of all, I won’t need cable to tune in.

In a hurry? The Oscars will air on ABC so you can see them for free by connecting an antenna. But if you don’t want to do that, we recommend these streaming services to watch the festivities:

  • Fubo: With 150+ channels, it offers something for everyone. Fubo allows you to try out its service with a free trial.
  • DIRECTV STREAM: Provides everything you expect from cable with many options. A 5-day free trial is now available for DIRECTV STREAM.
  • Sling TV: Probably the best streaming service in terms of customization with a super low price and a 50% discount on your first month!

If you can’t watch your favorite sports, TV and movies because of your location, try ExpressVPN to get access to the content you deserve. Signup now.

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However, first you need a VPN to unblock US streaming services from . Our favourite is ExpressVPN. It’s definitely not the cheapest option at $4.99/month, but it just works – and across all your devices.

They have servers in 25+ US cities/states and 105 countries, which unblock access to premium streaming platforms available only in the US, as well as free “on demand” TV services worldwide.

You’ll have access to local platforms as if you were in the country, meaning you can watch BBC iPlayer as if you were in the UK, CBC Gem as if you were in Canada, plus hundreds more worldwide.

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Hotdog users get three months free at ExpressVPN, so it’s a “no-brainer” for us. Decide for yourself with their 30 day money-back guarantee.

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IMPORTANT: Once you’ve installed your VPN and connected to a US server, you’ll still need to subscribe separately to access premium streaming services.

The Academy Awards is the annual celebration of the movie industry — especially Hollywood. It’s the one night of the year when movie fans can watch as the Academy offers accolades to the best movies of the year and the people that make those movies.

Some of the biggest and most popular stars will walk away with that iconic gold statue. If you’re a cinephile, this is definitely one event you don’t want to miss. Luckily, you don’t have to. Even without cable, there are multiple ways to watch the Academy Awards online.

Sign Up for a Free Fubo Trial

96th Academy Awards

The 96th Academy Awards will air live on ABC at EDT March 10, 2024.

As with other recent years, the Academy Awards nominees were not limited to films distributed to movie theaters. In particular, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Disney+, and Netflix.

Using Streaming Services to Watch the Academy Awards Online

If you don’t want to mess with an antenna, a live TV streaming service is your best bet to watch the Oscars. You can be waiting in just a couple of minutes. And there are many excellent options.

You can also watch on the ABC app, but this requires that you have a TV provider first. Any of the following streaming services will allow you to do so.

FuboTV

fubotv logo

FuboTV offers 120+ channels for $79.99/month. This includes 35+ sports-oriented channels in addition to all the local network affiliates ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC.

Sign Up for a Free Fubo Trial

All its plans come with at least unlimited cloud DVR and streaming on up to ten devices at once. The Elite plan for $10/mo ($89.99/month) more also offers 1000 hours and 10 devices.

For more information, see our FuboTV review.

DIRECTV STREAM

DIRECTV STREAM

DIRECTV STREAM gives you the choice from several different packages. The base package ($86.99/month) includes roughly 80 channels including all the local network affiliates.

Get DIRECTV STREAM Free Trial

All plans come with an unlimited DVR if you sign-up online. You also get to stream on unlimited devices at once. Our DIRECTV STREAM review can give you even more details.

DIRECTV STREAM offers a free 5-day trial, which is one of the best options to utilize if you want to learn more about their service. If you’re not happy with what you see, you can cancel at any time. If you cancel during the trial, you won’t ever be charged.

Hulu + Live TV

hulu logo

Hulu + Live TV is the most popular services that offers all the local channels. Their base package includes 85+ channels including TNT, USA, ESPN, TBS, FX, and many others. In addition, you get the Hulu on-demand library. And you get ESPN+ and Disney+. All that is just $82.99/month.

Get Hulu + Live TV Free

Hulu Live comes with unlimited hours of cloud DVR storage and streaming on up to two devices at once. You can learn more in our Hulu + Live TV review.

YouTube TV

youtube tv

YouTube TV offers a plan that is similar to Hulu Live. It offers a few more channels and is $5 less at $72.99/month. But you also lose out on Hulu’s great on-demand library as well as ESPN+ and Disney+.

How to Watch the Academy Awards With an Antenna

Most people have outdated notions of TV antennas. They imagine the old rabbit ears on top of a portable TV that delivered (at best) a poor picture. Those days are long over.

Since 2009, over the air (OTA) TV has been digital. You can now watch high-definition TV for free. People are usually shocked by the quality. And if they are transitioning from a cable or satellite plan where they didn’t get HDTV (usually because they didn’t pay extra for it), they wonder what they were wasting so much money for.

The only real question about an antenna is what channels you can get at your location. Check out our Indoor HD Antenna Guide for all you need to know.

Note that Sling TV offers a great deal for antenna users. They offer an extremely cheap antenna and AirTV 2 if you sign up to 3 months to start. This allows you to get all your local channels integrated with your streaming channels. It’s the ultimate cord-cutter deal.

Devices to Live Stream the Academy Awards

You can stream the Oscars on most devices in use these days.

All the services support Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Roku TV along with Android and iOS mobile devices. Further, you can cast from mobile devices (and web browsers) to a TV with Chromecast,.

Outside of DIRECTV STREAM, all the services support Android TV-based units. Each service supports Samsung smart TVs. Hulu, Fubo, and YouTube support LG and VIZIO smart TVs and Xbox gaming systems. Hulu and Youtube also support the PlayStation.

For complete information on supported devices, see our streaming reviews.

Wrapping Up

The Academy Awards live stream will air on ABC. That means you can watch the event with a digital antenna, or you can get it streaming online without cable. Both options are good choices. If you choose a streaming service, remember you’ll be free to cancel when you want. Not only that, but thanks to the free trials they offer, you might even be able to watch the Academy Awards online for free.

Fubo is our top choice for watching the Oscars. Fubo allows you to try out its service with a free trial.

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