Oscars 2025 Livestream on Hulu Cuts Out Early After Rocky Start
It was (early) curtains for the Oscars for some unlucky viewers. The livestream of the Oscars ceremony that was made available through Hulu cut out early for many users, going dark shortly after 10:30 p.m. ET, prior to the prizes for Best Actress and Best Picture being awarded.
Some users at 10:30 p.m. ET, which was the scheduled time for it to conclude, saw a screen that read “Thank You For Watching!,” and that “This live event has now ended. You may exit playback and select something else to watch.” The Oscars ceremony ran long and concluded after 10:45 p.m. ET. “Hulu” was also one of the top trending topics on X at the time of writing as a result of the outages.
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“This evening, we experienced technical and live stream issues on Hulu which impacted some Oscars viewers. We apologize for the experience and will make a full replay of the event available as soon as possible,” a Disney spokesperson told IndieWire. An individual with knowledge said the technical difficulty was due to a scheduling system issue. It’s unclear exactly how many people were impacted.
The inaugural edition of Hulu streaming the awards ceremony, which was made available to all U.S. subscribers, also got off to a rocky start. Earlier in the evening, the Hulu support team reported issues with people being unable to login and access the stream, for which they resolved and apologized. According to Downdetector, many users reported a spike of outages around 7:15 p.m. ET shortly after the Oscars began. The show was also available to stream via the Academy’s social pages, through YouTube TV, AT&T TV, and FuboTV.
The news comes as Bloomberg reported on Oscar Sunday that the Academy was considering a move away from Disney to another network or streamer. Disney has the rights to stream the Oscars until 2028, and the current deal between the two companies for the right to air the Oscars is worth more than $100 million a year. Bloomberg added that no new negotiations between The Academy and other parties have begun just yet.
Many who streamed the show via Hulu were denied the chance to see “Anora” dominate the ceremony, winning five of the six Oscars it was nominated for, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Editing, and Best Original Screenplay — all four of which went to director Sean Baker in a history-making night — as well as Mikey Madison for Best Actress in an upset over “The Substance” star Demi Moore.
Conan O’Brien hosted the 97th Annual Oscars. The livestream would have been a test to draw back younger viewers and cord cutters as the show’s ratings have struggled compared to pre-pandemic. However, last year’s ceremony when “Oppenheimer” was victorious was watched by 20 million people, up from 2023 and the year before.
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