The 86th Academy Awards begin this Sunday, February 26, at 8:30 pm. Eastern/7:30 p.m. Central, with red carpet coverage beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern/6 p.m. Central. Here’s how you can watch:
The official Oscars Twitter account is @TheAcademy, but the real fun will happen at @TheAVClub, where our film critics and staff will begin live-tweeting at 8:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. CT.
Livestream
Not one to make things simple, ABC won’t let just anybody livestream the Oscars. In order to sign in at abc.com/watch-live, you’ll need to be a subscriber to a participating cable service and live in Chicago, Fresno, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Raleigh-Durham, or San Francisco. You can check the provider list and get other questions answered on the ABC FAQ, and if you’re a DirecTV subscriber, you can get the instructions on livestreaming on the Oscars FAQ.
TV
The Oscars will be broadcast on ABC beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Who will win
Film editor A.A. Dowd’s predictions mostly point to another La La Land sweep—the film cleaned up at the Golden Globes and has 14 Oscar nominations—though that’s a major point of contention among the staff here. We’ll have full Oscars coverage on the site, including a running list of winners, right here at The A.V. Club, and you can see the list of nominees here.