How to Watch the Oscars 2021: Date, Time and Streaming

This year’s Oscars ceremony is nearly two months late — and you might not have seen any of the films in a theater.

But organizers are hoping that with an in-person ceremony on Sunday that will hew the closest to normal as any awards show thus far this year — accepting an award via Zoom is a no-no — the 93rd annual Academy Awards will make for compelling TV.

The stars normally speechify from the stage at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, but this year, amid social distancing challenges, the ceremony will be split between that site and Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. Some overseas nominees will call in from hubs around the world, including in London and Paris.

But even before a single award is given out, this year’s nominees have already set a new precedent for diversity, with a record nine performers of color in contention for acting honors and 70 women in the running for various honors. The filmmaker Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”) is the first Chinese woman and the first woman of color to be nominated for best director. Steven Yeun (“Minari”) is the first Asian-American up for best actor, and Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”) is the first Muslim performer in that category. And for the first time in nearly 50 years, two Black actresses, Viola Davis and Andra Day, are nominated for best actress in the same year.

After last year’s record-low audience of 23.6 million, TV executives expect viewership to fall even further this year, to maybe only half that number for the live ceremony. But with many people still stuck at home, even the appearance of normalcy could be a compelling reason to tune in.

If you plan to be among them, here’s what you need to know.

What time do the festivities start?

The ceremony begins at 8 p.m. Eastern, 5 p.m. Pacific. On television, ABC is the official broadcaster. Online, if you have a cable login, you can watch via abc.com/watch-live/abc, or if you’re an ABC subscriber, via the ABC app. Depending on where you live, there’s also Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, AT&T TV Now, YouTube TV or FuboTV, which all require subscriptions, though many are offering free trials.

The official Academy Awards preshow, “Oscars: Into the Spotlight,” begins airing on ABC at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, 3:30 p.m. Pacific. With Ariana DeBose and Lil Rel Howery as hosts, it will offer a behind-the-scenes look at the big night with red carpet coverage and interviews, as well as prerecorded performances of each of the five nominees for best original song.

Performers will include Celeste, H.E.R., Leslie Odom Jr., Laura Pausini, Daniel Pemberton and Diane Warren, whose songs will be taped from the soon-to-open Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. In Iceland, the Swedish singer Molly Sanden will tape a performance of “Husavik” from “Eurovision Song Contest.”

Is there a red carpet?

Yes. While we’re unlikely to get a totally normal red carpet, we’ll probably see at least a few stars stop for photos on their way inside Union Station. Head to the E! network beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern if you’re in the mood for some preshow celebrity spotting.

Who will be presenting?

Last year’s acting winners — Laura Dern, Joaquin Phoenix, Brad Pitt and Renée Zellweger — as well as Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, Bong Joon Ho, Don Cheadle, Bryan Cranston, Harrison Ford, Regina King, Marlee Matlin, Rita Moreno, Reese Witherspoon and Zendaya.

Are the Oscars the same thing as the Academy Awards?

Yes.

What should you watch for?

This year could be the first time all four acting categories are won by nominees of color. That’s what happened at the SAG Awards this month, and Oscar voters have followed suit five of the last 10 years.

When it comes to the films themselves, David Fincher’s black-and-white Old Hollywood biopic, “Mank,” about the making of “Citizen Kane,” leads all films with 10 nominations, including best picture and best director. But it’s a crowded race in second place, with six nominations each for “The Father,” “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Minari,” “Nomadland,” “Sound of Metal” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7” — all of them up for best picture, along with Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman.”

Who do we think will win?

Our Projectionist columnist, Kyle Buchanan, has some guesses, but this year may well feature a number of wild-card winners.

Chadwick Boseman, who died from colon cancer in August at age 43, looks to be a lock to take home another posthumous best actor win for his final film role as a trumpeter in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” “Nomadland” has the inside track for best picture after victories at the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards (and best director wins for Chloé Zhao at each event), but a sleeper pick like “The Trial of the Chicago 7” or “Minari,” which was relegated to a best foreign language film win at the Globes, could surprise us.