How to watch the Oscars 2026 for FREE from anywhere

How to watch the Oscars 2026 in the UK

Live coverage of this year's Oscars is taking place in the UK on Sunday, March 15, 2026 at 11pm GMT on ITVX.

You must be covered by a valid TV licence before watching any live broadcasts in the UK. This includes broadcasts via a traditional aerial as well as streamed via a Wi-Fi connection.

The standard TV licence costs £174.50 per year and covers all terrestrial channels on Freeview, Freesat, Sky, Virgin TV, as well as live streaming via BBC iPlayer on phones, tablets, and other devices.

If you’re fully covered by a TV licence, you can stream the Oscars from your preferred device without restrictions, whether at home or on the move. If you're abroad during the awards ceremony, you can still tune into the coverage with the help of a VPN.

How to watch the Oscars outside of the UK

If you're abroad at the moment, you won't be able to access ITVX because of its own geo-restrictions.

Streaming services determine your location using your IP address, a unique identifier assigned by your internet provider whenever you connect online. These addresses are linked to geographic regions, allowing platforms to enforce content restrictions based on licensing agreements.

Your IP address is typically assigned dynamically each time you reconnect, though some providers use static IPs. The best VPN deals or even the best free VPNs let you mask your real location by routing traffic through servers in different countries, tricking services into thinking you're elsewhere. This enables access to geo-restricted content that's only available for a specific region.

However, many streaming platforms actively block VPNs to enforce their geo-restrictions and licensing rules. For example, ITVX is geo-restricted to the UK, so it cannot be accessed from other countries, since it's only available to those who pay the annual £174.50 TV licence fee that pays for its content.

To access ITVX from abroad, you'll need to connect to a UK server with the help of a VPN. Once connected, you can log in to the accounts that you use at home, and that's registered to the address where you pay the TV licence fee.

ExpressVPN is an award-winning VPN with accolades from the likes of Techradar, CNET, and Tom's Guide, with praise for its servers dedicated to fast, reliable streaming from anywhere in the world.

Monthly prices start from £1.74 and unlocks ExpressVPN on 10x devices. Once installed, connect to a UK server from ExpressVPN's network of over 3,000 servers across 105 countries. The service uses proprietary Lightway protocol for enhanced speed and reliability, ensuring smooth streaming of festival performances.

How to watch the Oscars 2026 for free

Outside of the coverage on ITVX, VPN subscribers can also dip into free-to-watch English-speaking coverage from 7Plus, which is based in Australia. Alternatively, you can also watch for free via the streaming service CTV, based in Canada.

ExpressVPN works across all your devices — Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, smart TVs and streaming devices like Fire TV Stick. You can even use ExpressVPN's MediaStreamer feature to watch on devices that don't normally support VPNs, such as PlayStation or Xbox.

1. Sign up for a VPN — like ExpressVPN
2. Download the app to your preferred device (the best VPN deals include unlimited access to apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, more).
3. Open the app and connect to a VPN server location in UK for ITVX
4. Alternatively, connect to a VPN server location in Australia to access 7Plus or Canada to access CTV
5. Login to your account with the streaming service
6. Watch the Oscars from anywhere in the world

Of course, this technique should only be used by valid licence fee payers who will be outside of the UK while coverage of the Oscars is broadcast, who might otherwise miss out.

Always check the small-print of every streaming service to make sure that using a VPN to watch when abroad doesn't break the terms of service. VPNs are not illegal and are often mandated by companies to improve online security for employees. It's your responsibility to ensure you're using these apps for legal use only.

If you've made a mistake, ExpressVPN includes a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you'll be able to cancel your subscription and get a full refund if you're unable to use this app to unlock streaming abroad as planned.

Benefits of ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is particularly well-suited for streaming as it boasts VPN server locations in 105 countries, providing access to global coverage. It offers ultra-fast speeds on a 10-Gbps network, essential for high-quality streaming without buffering.

With military-grade encryption, a strict no-logs policy, and features like split tunnelling and a kill switch, your online activity stays private.

• Unlock 4 months for FREE with latest ExpressVPN deal

Based in the British Virgin Islands — outside Five Eyes jurisdiction — it avoids mandatory data retention laws, which means that even if the company were collecting data (it's not), law enforcement from the UK and US would be unable to compel ExpressVPN to hand over any information about its subscribers.

It also has a dedicated team that optimises the service for major streaming platforms. Round-the-clock customer support is available if you encounter any issues during race weekend.

ExpressVPN isn't the cheapest VPN. However, its 30-day money-back guarantee makes it a risk-free choice for privacy-conscious users and frequent streamers. It should also give new customers the confidence to subscribe to one of its longer contracts, which unlock the biggest discounts.

What is a VPN?

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is software that protects and anonymises everything you do online. VPNs can conceal your online activities by routing traffic through an encrypted tunnel that connects to secure servers worldwide.

The most reliable cheap VPNs or even free VPNs employ the same encryption standard as governments in the United Kingdom and the United States, ensuring that even your Internet Service Provider (ISP) connected to Wi-Fi cannot record the websites you visit, the duration of your sessions on each site, or your current location. This protection extends to advertisers, trackers, and hackers, preventing them from monitoring your online behaviour.

Furthermore, personal information entered into online forms and sensitive data transmitted to and from your device will be safeguarded from hackers using strong encryption provided by a VPN.