Why Hulu’s epic Oscars fail was dripping with irony

This year’s Academy Awards presentation went off without a hitch following some jaw-dropping meltdowns in recent years, but the same couldn’t be said for Hulu’s first-ever simulcast of the festivities. 

Hulu’s Oscars stream on Sunday was plagued with issues from the word go, with many would-be viewers unable to log in to Hulu just as the broadcast was starting, Deadline reported. It took Hulu more than two hours to squash the bugs, with a spokesperson tweeting on X that “our team took the necessary steps to resolve this” and advising users to reboot their devices. 

Even after the login kinks were worked out, Hulu users continued to complain about sporadic issues, including stream freezes as well as image problems, with one streamer noting that the “show seemed to lose the HD” near the half-way point of the broadcast. But those issues merely served as the prelude to the evening’s capper: Hulu ended its Oscars simulcast early, cutting off the stream just after the best actress presentation and before the awards for best director and best picture. 

Hulu users were left starting at a blue screen of death that read, “Thank you for watching! This live event has now ended. You may exit playback and select something else to watch.” 

The problem? The Academy Awards were scheduled to end at 10:32 p.m. ET, according to Variety, so the Hulu stream dutifully cut off at that moment, despite the fact that the two final awards had yet to be handed out. In other words, the Oscars show ran long, which it does pretty much every year. Cord-cutters were, quite rightly, furious at Hulu for the epic flub, with many pledging never to watch a live event on Hulu again—surely not the reaction that Hulu parent Disney was looking for. 

Hulu’s Academy Awards debacle comes just weeks after ad-supported streamer Tubi pulled off a successful Super Bowl simulcast, an event that drew 13.5 million viewers to the free streaming service with only a smattering of complaints. 

Hulu’s streaming headaches also came during an Oscars ceremony where filmmakers repeatedly begged moviegoers to skip streaming and go back to theaters, while host Conan O’Brien starred in a clever skit about a new “CinemaStreams” service that offers a revolutionary “building for movies.”  

Hulu’s Oscars simulcast, which was announced back in December, marked a first for the Academy Awards. Previously, cord-cutters had to sign up for a live-TV streaming service like Hulu + Live TV or YouTube TV to watch the festivities without cable or an antenna. After last night’s hiccups, a sizeable contingent of cord-cutters might wind up digging out their old rabbit ears for next year’s Oscars ceremony.