Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
Oscars 2026: The Official Date, Start Time, and How to Stream the 98th Academy Awards
It’s almost time to welcome Hollywood’s hottest awards night back onto the silver screen, and this year’s ceremony is shaping up to be one of the most-anticipated in years.
The 98th Academy Awards are riding on the backs of industry strikes, delayed releases, reshuffled premieres, and a year that forced the industry to rethink how movies are made and released.
Celebrities and avid viewers alike are keen to hit that gold-plated, glamorous reset button and get back to what we’ve always loved about movies: their incredible and diverse stories.
At this ceremony, there’s also a comedy legend returning to host, massive blockbusters battling prestige dramas, and the sense of a growing new era of filmmaking. All you need to do is note down the details and settle in for a show.
So, if you’re already planning your Oscars watch party or preparing to witness the night unfold on X and Instagram, here’s everything you need to know.
🔔 Save the Date:
We will be hosting a Live Coverage page starting March 15th!
Make sure to check back here on the day of the ceremony for real-time winner updates, red carpet fashion galleries, and instant analysis of the night’s biggest surprises.
RELATED:
Table of Contents
When and Where are the 2026 Oscars? Date and Venue Details
Official Date and Ceremony Start Time
Circle the date on your calendar and don’t forget it: March 15, 2026.
Image credits: theacademy / Instagram
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has stuck with an earlier start time in recent years, meaning this year’s ceremony will begin at 7 pm on the East Coast.
That slightly earlier kick-off has helped keep the show tighter and more digestible, though we’re still anticipating a long, emotional, and potentially chaotic evening. The show’s unpredictability is part of its charm, after all.
The 2026 Oscars Venue: Returning to the Dolby Theatre
As for the location, the Oscars are returning to the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood, which has been the ceremony’s home since 2002. If you’ve ever seen that sweeping shot of the grand staircase packed with A-listers posing for photographs, you’ll recognize the venue.
Over the years, it has become synonymous with Oscar night glamor, overseeing some of the most heartfelt and most awkward moments in filmmaking history.
There’s something poetic about celebrating the biggest night in cinema in the very heart of Hollywood itself, even in the contemporary industry when streaming dominates, and movie premieres happen everywhere from New York to Venice to London.
How to Watch the 98th Academy Awards
Live Broadcasting
If you’ll be watching from the US this year, you can tune in the old-fashioned way on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which has reliably broadcast the Oscars for decades.
Per ADWEEK, 19.7 million people watched the awards last year, and the Academy is hoping for a similar ratings boost this year.
Streaming Options
Image credits: theacademy / Instagram
But if cable isn’t your thing, the ceremony will also be available to livestream on Disney+ and Hulu for subscribers in the US, as well as on ABC.com (with a TV provider login).
For international viewers, access varies by region; typically, major local networks secure broadcasting rights, and many offer their own digital streaming platforms to ensure you don’t miss a second of the 98th Academy Awards.
Global Access
Speaking of global, the annual Academy Awards are broadcast in over 200 territories worldwide. From Europe to Australia to parts of Asia and Latin America, international fans will be able to watch live (or near-live, depending on time zones).
The Oscars remain Hollywood’s most glamorous awards night, but they’re accessible to people from all walks of life in every country, without leaving their couches.
Who is Hosting the Oscars 2026?
The Big Announcement
Like many big events, the Oscars are often made or broken by their host. Career success, including in comedy or presenting, doesn’t guarantee a fun and engaging evening at the Academy Awards.
But when the Academy announced that Conan O’Brien would host the awards this year, people were very happy.
Image credits: michelledemilt / Instagram
The late-night host brings decades of experience, sharp writing instincts, and a self-aware comedic style that pokes fun at Hollywood without being too mean-spirited.
This careful balance is crucial to a smooth night. Every year, the Oscars walk the delicate line between glamor and relatability, celebratory but not too self-congratulatory.
Why it Matters
Even with some of the most iconic wins in movie history, many discussions after each Academy Awards have revolved around how the host handled the event.
The Independent cites Billy Crystal, Bob Hope, Whoopi Goldberg, and Jon Stewart as some of the best previous presenters, and Seth MacFarlane, Liza Minnelli, and Chevy Chase amongst the worst.
Image credits: whoopigoldberg / Instagram
With the positive reaction to his announcement, Conan O’Brien seems set to solidify his place among the greats. After making a triumphant debut as host at the 97th Academy Awards, O’Brien returns for the 2026 ceremony, signaling a tonal shift toward something polished, playful, and rooted in classic showbiz.
In recent years, the ceremony has experimented with going host-less or rotating presenters, but O’Brien’s second consecutive stint brings a much-needed sense of stability and sharp wit to the Dolby stage.
We can expect a clever monologue, a few absurd pre-taped sketches, and at least one joke that everyone will still be laughing at by the end of the night. According to ABC News, O’Brien is taking the opportunity to “take things up a notch” during his second tenure as host.
If the Oscars are trying to reestablish a sense of stability after a rocky few years in the industry, Conan feels like a safe but exciting choice.
The Road to the Oscars: Key Dates & Nominations
From Predictions to Nominations: The First Reveal
Awards season is practically an extreme sport now, with the Oscars being the ultimate prize. Prediction charts, campaign strategies, and dramatic “snub” discourses rule the movie industry for months every year.
The nominations for the 98th Academy Awards were announced on January 22, 2026, officially launching the final stretch towards the ceremony.
Shortlists
View this post on Instagram
That morning sparked a wave of reactions, with some people celebrating and others expressing outrage.
This followed weeks of discussion about the December shortlists, which narrowed the field in categories such as International Feature, Visual Effects, Documentary, and Original Song. Those shortlists are often the first big clue about which movies have real momentum to win big.
The Voting Window
Final voting runs from February 26 through March 3, giving Academy members a narrow window to cast their ballots.
After that, it’s all sealed envelopes and intense speculation until the winners are revealed live on the big night. We’ve all got our favorites, but there can only be one winner in each category.
2026 Oscar Nominations 2026: Who to Watch For
Major Categories and The “Big Five”
There are over 20 categories handing out awards on Oscar night, but most viewers zero in on the iconic “Big Five”: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay (split into original and adaptation). These are the reveals that define the night, and often the legacies of the movies themselves.
Image credits: gettyentertainment / Instagram
A Best Picture win can transform a movie into a cultural landmark and have people talking about it until the next Oscars. Acting wins unlock projects and cement careers for stars and starlets alike.
And Director triumphs can kick-start shifts in what kinds of stories and styles the Academy is ready to embrace. The Washington Post cites “peer recognition”, “leveraging prestige to boost ticket sales”, and “a boost in visibility” as reasons why just being nominated for an Academy Award is such a big deal.
For years, the Oscars have been accused of focusing on prestige dramas at the expense of incredible comedies, horrors, and Sci-Fi movies.
This year’s broad array of nominees includes a fascinating mix of blockbuster spectacle, character-driven drama, and movies that likely wouldn’t have been nominated at all in decades past.
The Frontrunners
The entire shortlist of eligible nominees has been thoroughly analyzed and celebrated by industry critics and movie fanatics alike, but a few frontrunners are expected to lead the field, and everyone is looking forward to seeing how they perform on Oscar night.
First up, Gladiator II. The long-awaited sequel to Russell Crowe’s early-2000s epic arrived amid enormous expectations, and its scale alone makes it a formidable contender in technical categories such as production design and sound.
The Oscars can be hit-or-miss when it comes to sequels, so it’ll be interesting to see how Gladiator II fares.
Image credits: pedropascalfancanada / Instagram
On the topic of sequels, Dune II is also expected to put up a fight in its category. This box office hit was praised for expanding its already-huge cinematic universe with even greater visual ambition.
Epic science fiction doesn’t always dominate in more “mainstream” categories, but this instalment has the kind of critical and technical acclaim that makes it hard to ignore.
Other top nominees include heart-wrenching drama Hamnet, which featured a standout performance from Best Actress nominee Jessie Buckley, Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, which featured Jacob Elordi as the iconic monster, vampire flick Sinners, which earned Michael B Jordan his first nomination for Best Actor, and the Leonardo DiCaprio-led thriller One Battle After Another.
An Industry Turning Point
It’s impossible to talk about this year’s Oscars without acknowledging its context. The industry strikes of the past few years reshaped production timelines and delayed numerous projects.
Studios recalibrated, streaming platforms reconsidered release strategies, and theaters fought to bring audiences back.
Image credits: yourfriendlilan / Instagram
The result this year? A slate of diverse movies that reflects both the disruption and recovery of the industry.
There’s a renewed emphasis on theatrical spectacle, with big, immersive movies playing best on giant cinema screens. Production companies are also realizing that people want both more fun and more drama (Barbenheimer, anyone?) with high-quality writing and excellent engagement factors in both.
The 98th Oscars feel like the first ceremony in a while to represent this “new normal” of filmmaking, which was also somewhat evident at the 2026 Golden Globes.
Per Deadline, the Academy will also require voters to watch all nominated movies before casting their votes this year, laying the groundwork for fairer and more exciting competition.
What to Expect on Oscar Night
If history tells us anything, it’s that no Oscars ceremony is predictable. There will doubtless be several emotional speeches (some tearful, some awkward, some surprising), big musical performances, and at least one upset that’ll send X users into an absolute meltdown, a la the Will Smith slap drama in 2022.
Image credits: hoytsaustralia / Instagram
With Conan O’Brien leading the evening, there’s a good chance the tone will be slightly more relaxed, slightly sharper, and very online-aware.
This is a solid choice, given that the Oscars have always been as much about image, narrative, and stories as they are about awards. In 2026, Hollywood seems eager to tell stories of resilience, reinvention, and cautious optimism.
So, mark your calendar for March 15 and settle in. Whether you’re watching for the fashion, the films, or the inevitable viral moments, the 98th Academy Awards are shaping up to be one of the most genuinely exciting ceremonies in recent years.
Explore more of these tags
Related on Bored Panda
10
0