I’ve got a confession to make. Ever since my favorite Mexican restaurant added lobster quesadillas to the menu, I’ve been searching for creative ways to afford my culinary fix no less than three times a week. One of my more effective cost-cutting methods was to cut the cord, and remove cable from my long list of monthly expenditures. And while my stomach was thankful for the extra income (the bathroom scale, not as much), it did leave me with an unfortunate dilemma: how was I going to watch the 2016 Oscars with no cable?
Now, traditionally this wouldn’t be a concern of mine, as the Oscars are typically more monotonous than listening to your Uncle Leon explain for the 100th time how he was the man back in high school. But with the #oscarssowhite movement reaching a fever pitch, and with funnyman Chris Rock set to address it head on, this just seems like a moment that I shouldn’t be missing. So last night, I sat down in my favorite Snuggie and began to brainstorm ways to watch the Oscars without cable. Let’s start with the easiest option:
Stream it on ABC’s site
If you want to take the path of least resistance, just head over to ABC’s site, and stream it there. Similar to their approach last year, ABC is streaming it for free in some markets. And while this seems like an end-all solution, effectively ending this article, there are more than a few catches as it relates to this option. For starters, ABC’s website is super slow. I mean, it’s slower than a Blockbuster executive realizing that the end was near. But even if you can manage the inevitable buffering, a greater problem still persists. This year, ABC is only offering the free streaming in the following cities: Chicago, Fresno, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Raleigh-Durham, and San Francisco … which conveniently leaves out practically the entire country. I mean, seriously, whose cousin at ABC lives in Fresno? Feels like an inside job to me.
App anyone?
Another option is using the Oscars app … but again, it will only work in the aforementioned cities. (I seriously need to know what they were thinking when they selected those cities. Perhaps they just spun a globe to arrive at Queens like Prince Akeem.)
Vine or Periscope
While it won’t be the complete broadcast, a great way to watch the awards is through Vine or Periscope. Someone is bound to be broadcasting backstage with an up close and personal view of the proceedings. So just log on and search for the hashtags #oscars2016 or #oscars and let that be your guide. In the spirit of transparency though, most of these videos will probably have sucky quality. But hey, beggars can’t be choosey, right!?!?!
Just go to Target and buy an antennae
If you have $20 to spare, just go to the store and buy a digital antennae. They typically offer up to 10 channels, one of which is the local ABC affiliate. Now, you may not want to spend that much just to watch what is typically a 3-hour snoozefest, but with Chris Rock looming, it may very well be a sound investment.
