Why Is ABC Making It So Hard To Watch the Oscars?

As the “champagne” colored carpet is being rolled out for the stars to walk down this Sunday, the internet is having one collective thought: why are the Oscars so damn hard to watch?!

With award show ratings slowly declining mostly due to the rise of social media, it’s a bit odd that a show as prestigious as the Oscars would make itself so inaccessible. According to Rolling Stone, ABC will broadcast the show as usual through any cable provider at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT, but there are a few ‘simple'”‘ options that you can do to stream the ceremony.

You can choose to watch it through Hulu + Live TV for a cool $69.99 a month, DIRECTV Stream for $74.99 a month (though you can get a five-day free trial just to watch the show), fuboTV also for $74.99 a month (they offer a seven day free trial, if you can believe it!), or YouTube TV for $54.99 for three months, then $64.99 afterwards. So, to put it plainly, the ‘free’ services offered by the Academy to watch their movie pageant can run you almost $100 for one night.

Now, I’m not saying the Oscars or any other award show isn’t important. I love the spectacle, tear-jerking speeches, and colorful ensembles as much as the next online pop culture enthusiast—but it’s absolutely ridiculous that these ceremonies are being gatekept. Our parents used to pay one cable provider to give them a ton of channels, but nowadays, we’re paying more out of pocket for different streaming services that house different shows and movies that we enjoy. You would think the idea of more ways to view more media would be enticing, but it can be extremely overwhelming, especially when you want to keep up to date with the latest thing everyone is talking about.

While there’s no way to cure streaming fatigue at this moment, award shows like the Oscars should at least have the decency to let us see the stars we love without buying another service or forcing us to make up another fake email address for a free trial that we’ll inevitably forget to cancel. Just let me watch Stephanie Hsu win in peace, DAMN!

(featured image: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)