NOTE: I am posting this as an official answer because I believe to
have done enough research to know that watching the Oscars as a live
web cast is probably not possible. If you disagree and want this
answer removed, please let me know in a clarification and I will see
what I can do about getting the answer removed.
I have conducted research for you but was unable to find any plans for
a live broadcast of the ABC Oscar ceremony. Always preferring to spend
time at my computer where I can multitask, the only TV I watched was
on the internet so I got to learn quite a bit about the different
streams and services available. I finally got a TV Tuner card when I
realized that instead of embracing the internet as a broadcast medium,
stations were starting to use the internet to enhance but not replace
their regular programming.
So while there are live transmissions of Oscar related events, they
are usually cameras that focus on one aspect only, such as the red
carpet, or a special host at the Oscars (Real.com had Whoopi Goldberg
hosting a stream a few years ago). It is highly unlikely that you will
be able to find a transmission of ABC's Oscar ceremony online, and if
you do so, it is unlikely to be a ?legal? stream.
The only idea I can offer to you is to check some channels at
http://wwitv.com/portal.htm on the night of the Oscars. WWITV has the
most complete listing of internet TV streams that I have been able to
find. While you will not find ABC listed, there are some smaller
stations that put on the major networks for timeslots where they do
not have programming. I used to watch the University of Michigan
stream of CNN but this is not a reliable way of scheduling future
programming. A Canadian company who tried to rebroadcast TV stations
over the internet, along with other providers in the prior years have
been shut down by lawsuits (even though they did not remove any
advertising). TV broadcasters probably fear a lack of control, and you
can be sure that the hardware companies behind TV stations are not in
any mood to see their technology become obsolete. Realistically
though, the internet is probably still too slow even though companies
like Real.com offer semi-solutions for broadband users.
It will probably take a few more years before one will be able to
purchase a cable or network TV stream over the internet (when speeds
increase somewhat). There are already cable providers playing with the
technology, but they are restricted to certain geographical locations.
One example is http://www.stream1.ca . Although they still require
special hardware and use a "separate network" they broadcast using
TCP/IP (an integral part of the internet). It is important to
understand that TV stations as a collective group mostly are not
interested in losing their local audiences to competing stations all
over the world, and jealously try to stop re-broadcasting for that
specific reason (although there are other reasons as well). In fact, I
personally have watched some stations play with the technology and
back down again because of many reasons, some of which I have already
discussed, but also because of prohibitive bandwidth costs or legal
action from the companies who sell them the shows. For stations that
do air streams, there is often a blackout period for high profile
events because they could not get the rights to broadcast them over
the internet (example: www.pulse24.com). Think about it, if there was
a stream, which ABC Affiliate would it be and what would it be like
for advertisers/affiliates on ABC affiliates that are not watched as
much because of a popular stream? They still have to pay their
licensing fees, but are not being watched in the area where they
traditionally had to only compete against a few other stations
(depending on the population of the area).
Please let me know if you require any clarifications to this answer,
and I will do my best to further assist you.
tisme-ga
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