Hulu Outage Disrupts Viewers in US – How to Watch Oscars 2025

Hulu had a rough night during the 2025 Oscars, leaving many US viewers unable to catch the live broadcast. With reports of login issues and unexpected logouts flooding social media, over 34,000 complaints poured in at the peak of the outage. Hulu acknowledged the problem and reassured users that they were on it. In the meantime, folks turned to other services like YouTube TV and DirecTV Stream to watch the ceremony live.

The outage hit just as the 2025 Oscars started, impacting thousands of Hulu subscribers. This was the first time the streaming platform was broadcasting the event, and unfortunately, technical glitches left many customers frustrated and locked out.

Downdetector, a service that tracks online disruptions, recorded over 34,000 complaints about Hulu by 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time, with 17,000 users still unable to access the platform an hour later. An error message mentioning a “missing error JSON structure” indicated a server-side issue.

Infuriated viewers turned to social media to vent their frustrations. Many took to X (formerly Twitter) to express their disappointment, with one user demanding a refund for the failed service. Another shared their experience of being randomly logged out and unable to log back in, while a third person was straight to the point with their message to Hulu: “Get your act together!!! No one can watch #TheOscars right now on your service!”

Hulu’s parent company, Disney, confirmed the outage but did not provide a timetable for a fix. In a statement, a spokesperson noted, “We are aware that some users are experiencing login issues. The team is actively investigating and working to resolve. Hope to be back up and running soon.”

In the absence of Hulu, alternatives like YouTube TV and DirecTV Stream became go-to options for viewers eager to catch the Oscars live. Hopefully, Hulu will swiftly address the issues to avoid disappointing its subscribers in the future.