2018 Oscars Online: Watch 90th Academy Awards Live Stream

90TH Academy Awards The Oscars

• The 90th Academy Awards show is tonight, Sunday, March 4, starting at 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT, with comedian and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel serving as emcee.

• As in previous years, the Oscars won’t be the easiest show to stream online. ABC, which televises the Oscars, will offer a livestream on its website, abc.com, and via the ABC app for various mobile and smart-TV platforms.

• But in a display of how much ABC still really wants you to watch the Oscars via an old-school TV service, the stream is restricted to people living in specific markets who subscribe to participating TV providers.

• Those markets: Chicago, Fresno, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Raleigh-Durham and San Francisco. The provider list includes the major companies: Comcast, Charter Spectrum, AT&T U-Verse, Verizon and DirecTV, as well as YouTube TV.

• By the way, you can watch it for free if you have an antenna attached to your TV. Crazy, right?

• In addition, DirecTV subscribers in some other markets will also be able to access the stream, according to ABC’s Oscars FAQ. Those are: Albuquerque, Boston, Ft. Smith/Fayetteville, Jackson (Mississippi), Kansas City, Milwaukee, Monterey-Salinas, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Pittsburgh, Portland-Auburn (Maine), Savannah and West Palm Beach.

• The broadcast will also be available to stream through a Sling, Hulu Live TV or YouTube TV subscription.

• This year, you’ll be able to watch some red carpet and backstage moments through Facebook Watch starting at 6:30 pm ET / 3:30 pm PT. The Oscars livestream, or what Facebook and ABC are calling “The Oscars: All Access,” will be on both the Academy’s page on Facebook Watch and ABC’s Facebook page, as well as on Oscar.com and ABCNews.com.

• ABC is touting that, this year, “the Facebook community watching the ‘The Oscars: All Access’ live stream may also receive a digital autograph from one of their favorite stars on the red carpet.” We’re not sure exactly what that means, but if you try it out, let us know.

• Amazon is also making a play for Oscar coverage. Alexa is prepared to answer any questions you may have, such as, “Who is going to win Best Picture?” and “When are the Oscars airing?” Alexa users can also enable skills for Oscar trivia and challenge each other on past Oscar winners by asking, “Alexa, play Best Picture Oscars.”

• One big award to watch: Everyone’s favorite actress, Meryl Streep, is nominated for Best Actress again. She’s breaking her own record this year with her 21st Oscar nomination.

• Happy viewing, and may the best Meryl win.