Hulu Oscars Streaming Debut: Instant Embarrassing Failure

Hulu was so pumped to livestream the Oscars for the first time – but things didn’t quite go as planned. The Oscars viewership has been dropping like crazy, and everyone thought streaming it would be the way to go. Netflix has been doing more live stuff lately and killing it, so Hulu wanted to show they could hang too. But, it didn’t go so well.

Some people, like /Film’s Jeremy Smithm, had streams that were laggy and cut out, while writer Danielle Ryan could only get it on the TV app and not the browser. A quick look at social media shows tons of angry movie fans who are not happy that their Hulu isn’t working. It’s a mess, and even though the Hulu folks are trying to fix it, it’s just not going well.

I love Hulu’s content, but this is rough. They have some awesome movies and shows, but when it comes to live stuff like this, it’s a different story. As of now, the Oscars have been on for a while, and the stream is still nowhere to be found. Live streaming is starting to feel more like cable, but worse. At least with cable, I didn’t have to worry about the picture cutting out randomly – Hulu’s servers need some work if they want to keep up with Netflix.

The stream crashed again for a bunch of people who were halfway through the awards before they got cut off. Yikes. Hulu said sorry and that you can watch the full thing on there now. Let’s hope it’s fixed next time!