Hulu’s first Oscars stream fails, leaves viewers frustrated

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Hulu experienced significant technical difficulties during its first-ever live streaming of the Academy Awards on Sunday, leading to widespread viewer complaints and prompting an official apology from the Disney-owned platform.

Numerous subscribers reported connectivity issues during the Oscars broadcast, with many taking to social media to express their frustration when their streams unexpectedly disconnected. The streaming service acknowledged these problems, attributing them to technical complications.

Okay so my stream of the Hulu broadcast cut off BEFORE it was finished. Missed Best Actress & Best Picture.

This is bad.

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I’ve tried to be fair but I honestly think the Oscars broadcast has been a disaster for Hulu. pic.twitter.com/lBkTov96p8

— Matt Davis (@MattDavisTweets) March 3, 2025

“Yesterday evening, we experienced technical and livestream issues on Hulu which impacted some Oscars viewers. We apologize for the experience. A full replay of the event is available on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+,” a Disney spokesperson said in a statement.

The 2024 Academy Awards marked a historic moment as the first simultaneous broadcast on both ABC and Hulu. However, the milestone was overshadowed by widespread technical difficulties, with Down Detector, a platform that monitors digital service disruptions, recording more than 30,000 user complaints regarding Hulu’s Oscar broadcast.

Hulu has absolutely shit the bed with the Oscars.

Hulu was down for nearly 2 hours and now, they’re ending the live stream right before Best Picture.

Get your shit together @hulu pic.twitter.com/9glgEkasL7

— Cade Onder (@Cade_Onder) March 3, 2025

As viewers began reporting problems early in the evening, Hulu’s support team attempted to address the situation through their social media channels. On their X platform account, they posted at 4:39 p.m., “Having issues logging in? If so – we’re on it! Our team is actively investigating, and we hope to have things back up and running soon.”

The streaming service has since made the complete Oscar ceremony available for on-demand viewing through both Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ platforms.