Entertainment
Your official Oscars streaming guide: how to watch, streaming deals, and more
Table of Contents
The best deals for watching the Oscars live without cable:
GET HULU FOR FREE
Hulu with ads
Free for T-Mobile customers
(save $11.99/month)
BEST LIVE TV STREAMING DEAL
YouTube TV
Free 21-day trial, then $59.99/month for 2 months
(save $46)
MOST AFFORDABLE LIVE TV STREAMING SERVICE
Sling Select
$19.99/month
It’s been another stellar year for cinema, and now it’s time to award the films that shone brightest. The 98th Oscars are upon us. On March 15, the Academy will honor the best movies of 2025 on Hollywood’s biggest night. Conan O’Brien is set to host the ceremony once again, and many of your favorite winners from years past will present the biggest awards of the night.
We’re hoping some of our favorites receive the awards they deserve — One Battler After Another, Sinners, Hamnet, and more — but it’s anyone’s game. Want to see who takes home the titles of Best Actress, Best Director, Best Picture, and beyond? Here are all the details you need to know to watch the 2026 Academy Awards live with or without cable.
When are the 2026 Oscars?
The 98th Academy Awards will be held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 15, 2026, and will air live at 7 p.m. ET on ABC and Hulu, with the pre-show airing at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Who are this year’s Oscar nominees?
Sinners leads this year’s Oscars with a record-breaking 16 nominations. Basically, every award it could be nominated for, it is. One Battle After Another follows close behind with 13, while Marty Supreme earned nine, and Hamnet nabbed seven nominations.
Each year, there are just as many snubs as there are surprises, and 2026 is no different. For instance, we were a bit flabbergasted that Wicked: For Good came up totally empty with zero nominations. Our favorite sad boy, Paul Mescal, newcomer Chase Infiniti, and Jesse Plemons were also ignored by the Academy.
See a full list of the 2026 Oscar nominations below in the FAQ section of this story.
Live from Oscars 2026 tonight: Mashable’s covering all things Oscars 2026, from Academy Awards live updates to red carpet style and the wildest moments from the show. Check back at Mashable.com through the night for winners announcements and more.
How to watch the Oscars live without cable in 2026
For those with cable or over-the-air TV, you can tune your TV to your local ABC station or watch online via ABC.com or the ABC app by logging in through your pay TV service provider. No cable access? No worries: For the second year in a row, the awards will stream simultaneously on Hulu for subscribers.
You also have the option of signing up for a live TV cable replacement service to catch the Oscars live. These services essentially act just like cable, giving you live access to a well-rounded channel selection via your internet connection (rather than a cable connection). They’re contract-free and often offer trials to test them out. That means you could very well watch the Oscars for free, then cancel before being charged. But we’ll leave the details up to you. Here are the best options (and deals) to watch.
Hulu streaming deals
Hulu is one of the most generous (if not the most generous) streamers, offering new and eligible returning subscribers a free 30-day trial. That means you can easily sign up and watch the Oscars for free during that time period. If you don’t qualify for the free trial, we’ve also rounded up a few ways to save some money on your subscription.
Limited-time bundle deal: Save $8/month on three months of Hulu and Disney+
$4.99/month for 3 months (save $8/month)
Through March 24, new subscribers can get both Hulu and Disney+ with ads for only $4.99 per month for three months. Typically $12.99 per month for the bundle, you’ll save $24 total on a three-month subscription. Only new and returning subscribers can score the deal; current Disney+, ESPN, Hulu, and bundle subscribers are not eligible.
Best Hulu deal for most people: Save 16% on a Hulu (with ads) annual subscription
$99.99 per year (save 16%)
The best way to cut the cost of a Hulu subscription on any given day is to sign up for an annual plan with ads. You’ll have to endure a few interruptions to your content and pay upfront, but it’ll save you 16 percent, or just shy of $24, over the course of a year. A yearly subscription costs $119.99 (or $9.99 per month), while an $11.99 monthly plan would add up to $143.88 over a year. If you want to cut ties with ads, the price jumps to $18.99 per month, and there’s no annual offer available at this time.
Best for students: Save $10/month with Hulu Student
Students can sign up for Hulu for only $1.99 per month and stream the Oscars live. That’s more than 80 percent off the usual cost of a Hulu with ads plan. The only requirement is that you can verify your college email address using SheerID.
Best for T-Mobile users: Hulu (with ads) included for select customers
Free for T-Mobile customers on Experience Beyond plan (save $11.99/month)
Aside from a 30-day free trial, the only other way to get Hulu for free in 2026 is by switching your phone plan to T-Mobile’s Experience Beyond plan. Customers on this plan can enjoy Hulu with ads for free, as well as Netflix and Apple TV.
Mashable Deals
Already on the Experience Beyond plan? Download or open the T-Life app, select Manage > See plans > Manage add-ons, then scroll to the Hulu streaming benefit and click “Continue.” Follow the prompts to link an existing account or create a new one.
Live TV streaming deals
If you prefer a cable alternative that gives you access to your local ABC station and hundreds of other live channels, we recommend a few options. And many of them offer free trials and introductory pricing. Here are a couple of options.
Best introductory offer: YouTube TV
21-day free trial, then $59.99/mo for your first 2 months (save $46)
YouTube TV’s base plan includes over 100 live channels, including your local ABC network. You’ll also get unlimited DVR space, three simultaneous streams, and up to six individual accounts with personalized recommendations. For a limited time, you can get a 21-day trial to test the waters, which means you can watch the Oscars for free. Then, your first two months will cost just $59.99 per month instead of the usual $82.99 per month.
Most affordable overall: Sling TV Select package (for select areas)
Sling’s a la carte setup and affordable pricing make it a huge competitor in the live TV streaming market. You can pick your package and channels depending on what you actually want to watch. You’ll need access to ABC to watch the Oscars live, which is included in Sling’s Select package for only $19.99 per month. Unfortunately, since ABC is a local network, it’s only available in some local markets. Check whether your local market includes ABC before you pull the trigger — Chicago, Fresno, Houston, Los Angeles, and more are included.
Honorable mention: FuboTV
free 5-day trial, $48.99 for your first month
FuboTV offers a 5-day free trial for newbies, letting you watch the Oscars on your local ABC station. You’ll get access to over 200 other networks, as well as unlimited cloud DVR, and the ability to watch on up to 10 different screens. After your trial, the cost for your first month is $48.99 ($73.99 per month thereafter).
Entertainment
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Right now, EcoFlow is running a Mother’s Day Sale through May 17 with discounts as high as 64%. They’re also throwing in free hardware to sweeten the deal: All single orders between $600 and $3,000 come with a free 45W solar panel, and orders over $3,000 come with two free 160W solar panels. If you’re looking for something more portable, their RAPID Power Banks are also up to 53% off right now.
Just keep an eye on the countdown clock — it’s for the Flash Sale items that have even better, limited-time price cuts. If you miss the flash window, the standard Mother’s Day and Home Improvement deals (including a $700 installation discount for larger systems) are still valid through mid-May.
Mashable Deals
Here are a few of the best deals I’ve spotted so far:
Entertainment
Maddies Secret trailer reveals John Early as youve never seen him before
Comedian John Early makes his feature directorial debut with Maddie’s Secret, an offbeat homage to melodrama that he wrote and headlines as its eponymous heroine.
As an aspiring food influencer, Maddie Ralph (Early) is passionate about her cuisine. And at first glance, she’s got a picture-perfect life: a loving husband (Eric Rahill), a devoted best friend (Kate Berlant), and a job at a culinary content studio called Gourmaybe. But as the title suggests, there’s a side to Maddie she can’t stomach sharing with her loved ones. And this secret could kill her.
Out of the movie’s premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall, I cheered Maddie’s Secret, writing in my review for Mashable, “The film is silly and strange, but even amid campy bits, sincere. So, you’ll laugh at its parody elements, but may well be genuinely moved by Early’s commitment to this strange and splendid film.”
I also said “John Early is a better ingénue than Sydney Sweeney,” comparing Maddie’s Secret to another earnest (but less entertaining) TIFF offering, Christy. And I stand by it.
Maddie’s Secret opens in theaters in New York on June 19, and in Los Angeles on June 26.
Entertainment
Pride is almost here! Check out the best dating apps for LGBTQ women.
We know Pride is all year round, but there is something special about the month of June. We’re not there quite yet, but if you want a main squeeze for all the parades and parties, you gotta start looking now. How about on a dating app?
As a lesbian, you probably know all about them. Lesbian Americans (along with bisexual and gay Americans) are far more likely to have ever used dating apps than straight Americans: 51 percent to 28 percent, according to the Pew Research Center.
There are a few reasons why LGBTQ people might turn to online dating more quickly than straight folks. For one, you might live in an area without a thriving LGBTQ community, and in-person dating may be hard. If you don’t know other lesbians to begin with, how can you meet more IRL to date? (Sometimes, lesbian spaces can also be co-opted by The Straights.) Unfortunately, in-person dating may also be less safe, depending on where you live.
Hookup apps for everyone
AdultFriendFinder
—
readers’ pick for casual connections
Tinder
—
top pick for finding hookups
Hinge
—
popular choice for regular meetups
Thankfully, we live in a time where we can find people like us with a few swipes. Lesbians are welcome on major dating apps, and there are also niche ones specifically for lesbians and other queer women and people. But which one to choose?
How to find the best dating apps for lesbians
Niche lesbian dating apps aren’t your only option for finding love.
Credit: Stacey Zhu / Mashable
In Mashable’s recommendations below, you’ll find both general dating apps and apps specifically for queer people. As the former appeals to the general population, you’ll find more users in these spaces. The caveat, however, is that when you swipe on other women, you might find those coupled with men who are looking for another woman to have a threesome with (aka unicorn hunters). No judgment here, but that’s probably not what you’re looking for. Then again, people of all types are on dating apps like Tinder and Hinge. You never know who you may come across.
Then there are apps specifically for the community, like HER and Lex. If you yearn for a smaller dating scene, head for these apps. While there’s no “Grindr for lesbians” — we go into why in the FAQ section — these apps are more so like stepping into your neighborhood lesbian bar than an app like Bumble.
You can also try multiple dating apps, as each one below has a free version. You can filter by the gender you identify with and are looking for, and sometimes, as with OkCupid, there are many options to choose from.
Diving into the dating pool isn’t easy, but the water’s fine. Check out our guide below for the full rundown of our recommendations and dating app reviews.
Score up to 64% off at EcoFlow and snag free solar panels with your purchase.
Maddies Secret trailer reveals John Early as youve never seen him before
