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Viewing guide to Oscars

The Oscars are live on Nine and Movie Extra, and here's a few tips to catching all the extra action.

oscars1The 81st Academy Awards today wins its first live broadcast in Australia. It screens live at 12:30pm on both Nine and Movie Extra.

An evening repeat can also be seen at 9:30pm on Nine, but with one hour less (so think about recording the daytime version if you’re at work!). Movie Extra repeats it all at 12am Tuesday with another 90min highlights version at 4pm on Wednesday.

For red carpet action Nine will broadcast the Today show from LA, plus crosses during Mornings with Kerri-Anne (although on Friday she apparently got excited about “pre-Logies” crosses). A full half hour special airs from 12pm to 12:30pm hosted by Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkinson.

On pay television there is red carpet action on Movie Extra, Arena and E! beginning at 10am.

Nine’s shift of the Oscars to daytime is something of a win / win. Award ceremonies rarely draw bumper audiences, and are always long affairs. Last year it averaged 934,000 viewers. The one downside of Nine’s telecast is it won’t be in high-definition.

Screening the event live and on-selling rights to pay television still allows the network to move the evening session to a later timeslot without attracting criticism. Instead Nine can screen both Underbelly and the Oscars.

Filmmakers Bill Condon and Laurence Mark have taken charge of the ceremony and are keeping very quiet on who is presenting. Some stars have reportedly been asked to avoid the red carper just to keep an element of surprise. Hugh Jackman reckons the staging is also different, like “a giant nightlcub of your dreams.”

He will also show off his singing and dancing skills in a number staged by Baz Lurhmann. While Heath Ledger is destined to win Best Supporting Actor, there are also three other Aussies nominated for Australia (Costume), The Dark Knight (Editing) and Iron Man (Special FX).

Slumdog Millionaire, which stars former Skins actor Dev Patel, is the hot favourite for Best Picture.

22 Responses

  1. We all should be so very proud of Hugh Jackman!! What a Talent!!! and the Americans love him… having an Aussie hosting an American Awards ceremony is a hoot.

  2. It was a good show. I loved having it on during the day. But the montage of people who have passed away was filmed terribly. I could not see who they were showing and the camera kept moving.

  3. Ch 9 did not have a 9HD logo. NBN has no logo on their HD channel. Normally 9 use the 9HD logo whenever a show is in HD. So while the Oscars were shown on HD channels 80 and 90, they would not have been in full HD 1080.

  4. Seems the 9 HD amendment pertained to the 12pm red carpet segment rather than the ceremony itself. Apologies for any confusion.

    Nine’s info for this portion also could have been worded more clearly, suggesting that Karl & Lisa would be at the red carpet rather than Richard Wilkins, whose name wasnt anywhere to be seen.

  5. If you don’t want to know the results yet, look away, click off, minimise, use the back on your browser, etc!!!

    Well done Slumdog Millionaire, they cleaned up! They deserved it, and the smiles and looks on the cast and crews face say it all!

    Happy to see in 16:9 as well, suggest 9 maybe did not want to pay for the extra band width they would have needed for the HD feed? Hugh Jackman did a wonderful job as host, it was very entertaining. One of the best Oscar shows for years, and happy it finished right on time (4pm as advertised on 9, not sure what Movie Greats were thinking saying 3.30!!).

  6. Agree with alfagirl, who really cares if it is HD or not, At least it is being screened Live into this country for the first time.

    Which is more important? The Awards in HD or the Awards being shown Live into Australian homes at Midday?

  7. HD or no HD I don’t care as long as it’s on. I am still annoyed about not having the Golden Globes on FTA. I am so looking forward to this. Love love love award shows!!!

  8. Won’t be happy if not in 16:9! Slumdog should win, its a brilliant movie. If you haven’t seen it, go see. So glad to have Oscars on live, means no media and internet black out waiting to see it at night.

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