The Oscars: Hulu Had a ‘Bundle’ of Technical Issues

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man – Buy Me a Coffee!

TV Answer Man, I got the $4.99 a month deal for the Hulu and Disney Plus bundle for the Oscars. But last night I started watching the Red Carpet show on Hulu and after it was over I couldn’t watch the Oscars at all!! What the Hell!! What happened? Very, very mad, TV Answer Man. – name withheld.

You are not alone. For the first time ever, Hulu last night offered a live stream of the Academy Awards show, better known as The Oscars. However, viewers who expected to watch the stream cast on Hulu via the Disney Plus/Hulu bundle were bitterly disappointed when it was not available. Numerous fans last night took to social media to record their anger in real time.

“THERES NO OPTION FOR THE OSCARS ON THE COMBO DISNEY/HULU APP,” one viewer said on X.

And he was right. The TV Answer Man discovered the same thing when looking for the Oscars on Hulu via Disney Plus. (I have the Disney Plus/Hulu bundle.)

Hulu’s customer support team said on X during the telecast that the Oscar stream was only available on the standalone Hulu app. This was news to me and others because Disney did not specify this distinction prior to last night. In fact, Disney basically did the opposite by encouraging people to get the Disney/Hulu bundle by offering it for $4.99 a month for three months.

The Hulu X team told upset customers that bundle subscribers could activate the standalone Hulu app with their Disney credentials. But I tried and it didn’t work, which was the same experience of many others on social media.

The customer support team finally acknowledged that there was an issue preventing bundle subscribers from watching:

“Hulu here! The Oscars are available to stream live on the Hulu app/Hulu.com and will be made available to stream on Disney+ after the ceremony. We hope this information helps!,” Hulu said.

But that was cold comfort to angry viewers:

“Why is it not in Disney+ bundle you scumbags,” tweeted one person.

Viewers who were able to watch the Oscars on the standalone Hulu app seemed generally pleased with the streamcast although some said it buffered from time to time.

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Have a question about a cable/satellite service, streaming service, TV product, or favorite show? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvanswerman.com.