How to Watch the Oscars Live Without Cable to See Who Will Win in the Most Unpredictable Awards Season Yet

After one of the most unpredictable awards season races in Hollywood history, it all ends tonight with the 2026 Oscars.

The 98th annual Academy Awards is set to air on Sunday, March 15, 2026, with comedian Conan O’brien as the host. The awards show, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, will mark the end of the 2026 Awards Season, which started in January with the Golden Globe Awards.

Throughout this season, award predictors have followed along with bated breath as three of the four main acting categories—Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and Best Actress in a Leading Role—saw a different winner at each precusor awards show, including the Golden Globes, Actor Awards, Critics’ Choice Awards, and BAFTA Awards.

But who will win it all and take home the coveted Oscar trophy? Here’s how to watch the Oscars live without cable for cheap so you can see all the action.

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How to watch Oscars 2026

The Oscars air on ABC, which is available to stream in select markets on services like Sling TV. Sling offers three plans with ABC in select markets: Sling Select, which starts at $29.99 per month; Sling Blue, which starts at $54.99 per month, and Sling Orange + Blue, which starts at $65.99 per month. Sling Orange + Blue also has a current deal, where users can subscribe for 50 percent off their first month at $34.99.

As for which of Sling’s plans is right for you, Sling Select offers more than 10 channels and the ability to stream on up to three devices at one time; Sling Blue offers more than 40 channels and the ability to stream on up to three devices at one time; while Sling Orange & Blue offers more than 50 channels, the ability to stream on up to three devices, and everything included in Sling Blue and Sling’s fourth plan, Sling Orange. Read on for step-by-step instructions on how to watch the Oscars with Sling.

1. Visit Sling.com
2. Click “Try Us Today”
3. Enter your information and payment method
4. Select your plan between Sling Select, Sling Blue, and Sling Orange & Blue
5. Search for “ABC”
6. Start watching!

When do the Oscars 2026 air?

The 2026 Oscars air on Sunday, March 15, at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT on ABC. Red carpet coverage will start at 6:30 p.m.

Who’s the Oscars 2026 host?

The 2026 Oscars are hosted by Conan O’Brien, who also hosted the Academy Awards in 2025. The Oscars preshow is hosted by talk show host Tamron Hall and The Bachelor host Jesse Palmer.

“I started writing a while ago. Ideas are like R.A.F. pilots in 1940. You have to generate a lot of them. A lot of them fall by the wayside and then some endure. And so we’ve been going for a while. We’ve got a great writers’ room, and I’ve already started going to clubs to try out material, which is really fun. It’s good to keep you in shape or get you ready,” O’Brien told The New Yorker about his preparations to host the Oscars.

He also opened up to the magazine about the moment he realized he could be a comedian. “Well, when you’re a kid—I think we all do this—you go through your checklist. You emerge into the world. It takes a bunch of years just to figure out what the hell is going on,” he said. “And then very quickly things start to get sorted out. Am I an athlete? No, I am not an athlete. Do the girls go crazy for me? No, they do not. Am I a math whiz? No, Conan, you are not. Am I a tough guy? Oh, God, no, Conan. You are not.”

He continued, “And it’s a lot of nos. And then I hit this thing where I would make people laugh in class. I wasn’t the class clown—I was very quiet, but I would make friends laugh, and I started writing little plays and putting myself in them, and they were funny. And then, in creative-writing classes or in English class, I would write funny stories.”

He added, “The teacher would have me read them, and everybody would be laughing, because I’d put a lot of comedy in there. So what happens is that you realize that there’s this one arrow in my quiver. There aren’t thirty-five arrows—there’s one. So I probably started working this comedy thing, unconsciously, in 1972 or 1973, in Brookline, Massachusetts, in a playground. And then you’re just working it and working it. And then I started seeing things on television or in the movie theatre. And you’re learning about rhythm, just learning about rhythm and what’s funny, and why is that funny? And I never got too analytical about it. That’s like the part of the map that disappears and there are dragons there. Like, don’t get into analyzing it. Just what’s funny, what’s not funny.”

Where are the Oscars 2026?

The Oscars 2026 are hosted at the Dolby Theatre Hollywood in Los Angeles, California. The Dolby, previously known as the Kodak Theatre, has been the venue for the Academy Awards since it opened in 2001.

Who are the Oscars 2026 nominees?

Check out the 2026 nominees for the six main categories at the Oscars below.

Best Picture

• Bugonia
• F1
• Frankenstein
• Hamnet
• Marty Supreme
• One Battle After Another
• The Secret Agent
• Sentimental Value
• Sinners
• Train Dreams

Best Directing

• Chloe Zhao – Hamnet
• Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme
• Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another
• Jachim Trier – Sentimental Value
• Ryan Coogler – Sinners

Best Actor in a Leading Role

• Timothee Chalamet – Marty Supreme
• Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another
• Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon
• Michael B. Jordan – Sinners
• Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent

Best Actress in a Leading Role

• Jessie Buckley – Hamnet
• Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
• Kate Hudson – Song Sung Blue
• Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value
• Emma Stone – Bugonia

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

• Benicio del Toro – One Battle After Another
• Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein
• Delroy Lindo – Sinners
• Sean Penn – One Battle After Another
• Stellan Skarsgard – Sentimental Value

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

• Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value
• Inga Ibsdotter Lileaas – Sentimental Value
• Amy Madigan – Weapons
• Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners
• Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another

The Oscars are available to stream with Sling.