How to Watch the 2025 Oscars Without Cable

The Oscars are the peak of film and TV awards season. Each year, the biggest stars in Hollywood grace the red carpet in dazzling designer looks while cinephiles eagerly await to see which films take home the industry’s most prestigious honor. You don’t want to miss one of the biggest pop-culture events of the year just because you’ve gotten rid of your costly cable subscription. The Oscars will broadcast on ABC again this year, which is good news for cord-cutters who prefer to pick up free over-the-air broadcasts. This year, however, it’s easier than ever for streaming service users to tune in. Here’s everything you need to know to watch the Oscars without a cable subscription.

The Oscars will broadcast on ABC for cable users and over-the-air TV, but, for the first time, will also stream live on Hulu. The Academy postponed the announcement of nominations twice due to the California wildfires, and many feared the ceremony wouldn’t go forward as scheduled. Fortunately, the announced date has remained firm. Organizers have vowed the ceremony’s economic and cultural impact on Los Angeles will “celebrate the work that unites us as a global film community and acknowledge those who fought so bravely against the wildfires.”

Here are the details about the event:

• When are the Oscars 2025?: Sunday, March 2 at 7 p.m. EST/4 p.m. PST
• Who is hosting the Oscars 2025?: Conan O’Brien
• Where are the Oscars 2025?: Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California
• When is the Oscars pre-show?: Sunday, March 2 at 3:30 p.m. EST/12:30 p.m. PST
• What channel is showing the Oscars 2025?: ABC

ABC is one of the oldest and most popular channels on TV, making it easy to access in various ways. ABC has affiliate stations across the country that are broadcast through local TV towers. That means most viewers can pick it up for free over the air using an HD digital antenna. 

ABC is also available through several of the most popular skinny bundle streaming services. These streaming services offer an on-demand library of content as well as live TV channels to add to your subscription. If you already subscribe to a service like FuboTV or Sling TV, you can add ABC to your subscription to watch.

Or, this year, you can tune in the easiest way: through Hulu. Hulu subscribers will get automatic access to the live broadcast and red-carpet footage before and after the show. Hulu will also make the event show available to stream the following day for fans who missed it live.

Here are all the ways you can watch the Oscars without cable:

• DIRECTV
• FuboTV
• Sling TV
• Hulu + Live TV
• YouTube TV
• Free Over-the-Air TV

The nominees for the 97th Academy Awards were announced on Jan. 23 by actors Rachel Sennott and Bowen Yang. Final voting by Academy members ended Feb. 18. There’s no public voting for the Oscars. This year, “Emilia Pérez” leads the nominations with 13, followed by “The Brutalist” and “Wicked” with 10 nominations each. Several media outlets have predicted that “Anora” will take home best picture, but if “Emilia Pérez” wins out, it’ll become the second foreign-language best picture winner after “Parasite” in 2019. 

The competition is especially fierce this year, with Best Actress nominee Karla Sofía Gascón at the center of a social media scandal involving tactless comments about fellow nominee Fernanda Torres. With rivalries heating up and strong opinions all around, this year’s Oscars is guaranteed to be an exciting competition. 

Best Picture

“Anora” (Neon)

“The Brutalist” (A24)

“A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight Pictures)

“Conclave” (Focus Features)

“Dune: Part Two” (Warner Bros.)

“Emilia Pérez” (Netflix)

“I’m Still Here” (Sony Pictures Classics)

“Nickel Boys” (Amazon MGM Studios)

“The Substance” (Mubi)

“Wicked” (Universal Pictures)

Best Director

Jacques Audiard – “Emilia Pérez” (Netflix)

Sean Baker – “Anora” (Neon)

Brady Corbet – “The Brutalist” (A24)

Coralie Fargeat – “The Substance” (Mubi)

James Mangold – “A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight Pictures)

Actor in a Leading Role

Adrien Brody  – “The Brutalist” (A24)

Timothée Chalamet – “A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight Pictures)

Colman Domingo – “Sing Sing” (A24) 

Ralph Fiennes – “Conclave” (Focus Features) 

Sebastian Stan – “The Apprentice” (Briarcliff Entertainment)

Actress in a Leading Role

Cynthia Erivo – “Wicked” (Universal Pictures)

Karla Sofía Gascón – “Emilia Pérez” (Netflix)

Mikey Madison  – “Anora” (Neon)

Demi Moore – “The Substance” (Mubi)

Fernanda Torres – “I’m Still Here” (Sony Pictures Classics)

Actor in a Supporting Role

Yura Borisov – “Anora” (Neon)

Kieran Culkin  – “A Real Pain” (Searchlight Pictures)

Edward Norton – “A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight Pictures)

Guy Pearce – “The Brutalist” (A24)

Jeremy Strong – “The Apprentice” (Briarcliff Entertainment)

Actress in a Supporting Role

Monica Barbaro – “A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight Pictures)

Ariana Grande – “Wicked” (Universal Pictures)

Felicity Jones – “The Brutalist” (A24)

Isabella Rossellini – “Conclave” (Focus Features)

Zoe Saldaña  – “Emilia Pérez” (Netflix)

Adapted Screenplay

Jay Cocks, James Mangold – “A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight Pictures)

Peter Straughan – “Conclave” (Focus Features)

Jacques Audiard – “Emilia Pérez” (Netflix)

RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes – “Nickel Boys” (Amazon MGM Studios)

Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin, John “Divine G” Whitfield – “Sing Sing” (A24)

Original Screenplay

Sean Baker – “Anora” (Neon)

Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold – “The Brutalist“ (A24)

Jesse Eisenberg – “A Real Pain” (Searchlight Pictures)

Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum, Alex David – “September 5” (Paramount Pictures)

Coralie Fargeat – “The Substance” (Mubi)

Cinematography

“The Brutalist” (A24) 

“Dune: Part Two” (Warner Bros.)

“Emilia Pérez” (Netflix)

“Maria” (Netflix)

“Nosferatu” (Focus Features)

Original Song

“Never Too Late” – Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt, Bernie Taupin – “Elton John: Never Too Late” (Walt Disney Pictures)

“El Mal” – Clément Ducol, Camille, Jacques Audiard – “Emilia Pérez” (Netflix)

“Mi Camino”  – Clément Ducol, Camille – “Emilia Pérez” (Netflix)

“The Journey” – Diane Warren – “The Six Triple Eight” (Netflix) 

“Like a Bird” – Abraham Alexander, Adrian Quesada – “Sing Sing” (A24)

Costume Design

“A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight Pictures)

“Conclave” (Focus Features)

“Gladiator II” (Paramount Pictures)

“Nosferatu” (Focus Features)

“Wicked” (Universal Pictures)

Sound

“A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight Pictures)

“Dune: Part Two” (Warner Bros.) 

“Emilia Pérez” (Netflix)

“Wicked” (Universal Pictures)

“The Wild Robot” (DreamWorks Animation)

Original Score

“The Brutalist” (A24) 

“Conclave” (Focus Features)

“Emilia Pérez” (Netflix)

“Wicked” (Universal Pictures)

“The Wild Robot” (DreamWorks Animation)

Live Action Short Film

“Anuja” (Netflix) 

“I’m Not a Robot” (The New Yorker)

“The Last Ranger” (Six Feet Films)

“A Lien” (No U.S. Distribution)

“The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent” (Manifest)

Animated Short Film

“Beautiful Men” (Miyu Distribution)

“In the Shadow of Cypress” (Voce Spettacolo)

“Magic Candies” (Toei Animation) 

“Wander to Wonder” (Bantam Film)

“Yuck!” (Miyu Distribution)

Documentary Feature Film

“Black Box Diaries” (MTV Documentary Films)

“No Other Land” (No U.S. Distribution)

“Porcelain War” (Picturehouse) 

“Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” (Kino Lorber)

“Sugarcane” (National Geographic Documentary Films)

Documentary Short Film

“Death by Numbers” (Cuomo Cole Productions)

“I Am Ready, Warden” (MTV Documentary Films) 

“Incident” (Hypnotic Pictures)

“Instruments of a Beating Heart” (The New York Times Op-Docs/Cineric Creative)

“The Only Girl in the Orchestra” (Netflix)

International Feature Film

“Emilia Pérez” from France (Netflix)

“Flow” from Latvia (Janus Films/Sideshow)

“The Girl with the Needle” from Denmark (Mubi)

“I’m Still Here” from Brazil (Sony Pictures Classics) 

“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” from Germany (Neon)

Animated Feature Film

“Flow” (Janus Films/Sideshow)

“Inside Out 2” (Pixar) 

“Memoir of a Snail” (IFC Films)

“Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” (Netflix)

“The Wild Robot” (DreamWorks Animation)

Makeup and Hairstyling

“A Different Man” (A24)

“Emilia Pérez” (Netflix)

“Nosferatu” (Focus Features)

“The Substance” (Mubi)

“Wicked” (Universal Pictures)

Production Design

“The Brutalist” (A24)

“Conclave” (Focus Features)

“Dune: Part Two” (Warner Bros.)

“Nosferatu” (Focus Features)

“Wicked” (Universal Pictures)

Film Editing

“Anora” (Neon)

“The Brutalist” (A24)

“Conclave” (Focus Features) 

“Emilia Pérez” (Netflix)

“Wicked” (Universal Pictures)

Visual Effects

“Alien: Romulus” (20th Century Studios)

“Better Man” (Paramount Pictures)

“Dune: Part Two” (Warner Bros.) 

“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” (20th Century Studios)

“Wicked” (Universal Pictures)

If you watch the Oscars on a streaming service, you can switch easily between any screen using streaming devices. Connect your streaming service to Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Chromecast, gaming consoles, mobile, or the web to watch wherever you want. Free over-the-air broadcasts are not compatible with streaming devices.

Tune into (or catch up on) the other biggest events during awards season including the Emmys, the Critics Choice Awards, and the Grammys. Awards shows are often broadcast on one of the “big three” cable networks that cover major cultural events like the Super Bowl, New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, and more. ABC is one of them, but don’t forget to keep an eye on NBC and CBS for more of the biggest pop culture moments of the year. You can also check out MTV, which hosts award shows like VMAs and MTV Movie & TV Awards.