How Hulu’s First Oscars Live Stream Failed Spectacularly

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man – Follow me me on X.

How did Hulu do last night with its first ever live stream of the Academy Awards broadcast? Well, let’s put it this way: The Disney-owned streamer will not get an Oscar for technical achievement.

Hulu’s Oscar Nightmare: Buffering, Picture Freezing & an Early Exit
The Hulu streamcast, which was also simulcast on ABC, was marred by consistent buffering and picture freezing all night, according to numerous subscribers who posted complaints online. And, inexplicably, Hulu even ended the show before the Best Actress and Best Picture awards were announced. Hulu subscribers were dumbfounded to see their picture suddenly display an error message around 10:30 p.m. ET.

Thank You For Watching, Hulu?
Here’s what one Hulu subscriber posted on X when the streamer cut off the show:

But Hulu’s troubles began nearly immediately after the broadcast began. At 7:39 p.m. ET, Hulu’s X support team posted a message acknowledging that people were having trouble logging in to the Hulu app. The post was greeted with 839 responses, most of which blasted Hulu for everything from incompetence to malfeasance.

“Why does Hulu constantly have this login/reactivation issues? It’s 2025 – don’t you all have backup systems? Don’t you test your system upgrades? Annoying. Maybe it’s time to look at Yahoo or Sling as options,” wrote @Jdenver.

Roughly two hours later at 9:30 p.m. ET, Hulu’s X support team said it had fixed the log in issue and urged users to reboot their devices.

“Thanks so much for hanging in there!” @Hulu_support stated. “Our team took the necessary steps to resolve this, so you should be all set after rebooting your device. We appreciate your patience!”

However, less than an hour later, Hulu’s streamcast abruptly ended with about an hour left in the show.

“I missed the first 2 awards and the last 2. This is your Lassie moment Hulu,” wrote one angry user, in an apparent reference to the Heidicast in 1968 when NBC prematurely ended the broadcast of a New York Jets-Oakland Raiders game to begin airing the movie, Heidi. After NBC stopped the broadcast, the Raiders scored two touchdowns in the last minute to win the game.

Shortly before 11 p.m. ET, Hulu Support said it had fixed the latest issue but many users disagreed on X, saying they still couldn’t watch the show.

“We’ve got you covered now!” Hulu Support said at 10:46 p.m. ET. “Our developers were able to put changes in place to mitigate the interruption. Please reboot your device to start streaming and let us know if you run into any further trouble.”

“Great. You fixed the login and forgot to put a live person in charge to cover the show when it passed 10:30 pm and automatically shut off. Terrible hulu. Just terrible,” wrote @milliestarfish2 on X.

Why Hulu’s Streaming Flop Matters
Programming companies have been trying for the last several years to convert cable and satellite subscribers to streaming for a variety of financial reasons. (Basically, it’s less expensive to maintain a streaming service compared to cable or satellite.) But Hulu’s disaster is another reminder that live streaming is not ready for primetime, particularly when it comes to high-profile live events. Whether it’s the Oscars, the Super Bowl, or a Netflix boxing match or reality show, viewers are weary of losing their picture at inopportune moments. This latest outage will continue to make it difficult to create the narrative that Americans should drop their cable and satellite subscriptions (or antennas) and go all streaming.

Have a Question? Ask The  TV Answer Man!
Have a question about a favorite show, streaming service or new TV product? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvanswerman.com. Please include your first name and hometown in your message.

The TV Answer Man is veteran journalist Phillip Swann who has covered  television for more than three decades. He will report on the latest news and answer your questions regarding new devices and services that are changing the way you watch television. See the bio for Phillip Swann here.