Hulu subscribers were left stunned and frustrated on Sunday night when the streaming service's live Oscars broadcast abruptly ended before the announcement of the Best Actress and Best Picture winners. The Disney-owned platform displayed a "thank you for watching" message, claiming that "the live event has now ended," despite the ceremony still being underway.

The premature cutoff sparked a flurry of complaints on social media, with many viewers expressing their outrage and disappointment at missing out on the evening's most anticipated moments. This was not the only issue that plagued Hulu's Oscars stream, as some customers had earlier reported difficulties logging in, which was resolved shortly before 9 PM ET.

The error is believed to have stemmed from Hulu's decision to set a fixed ending time of 10:32 PM for the Oscars stream, which did not account for the unpredictable nature of the ceremony's runtime. As a result, viewers were kicked out of the stream exactly at 10:32 PM, missing the final awards of the night.

This is not the first time Hulu has experienced a streaming mishap of this nature. In 2018, the service similarly ended its live Super Bowl LII broadcast before the game had concluded, affecting viewers in some markets. The recurrence of such errors raises questions about Hulu's ability to handle live events, particularly those as high-profile as the Oscars.

The Verge has reached out to Hulu for an explanation of what went wrong, but the company has yet to provide a statement. The incident is a significant embarrassment for Hulu, especially given its ownership of the Oscars telecast rights. As the streaming landscape continues to evolve, such mistakes can have a lasting impact on a service's reputation and user loyalty.

The Oscars streaming debacle serves as a reminder of the importance of reliability and flexibility in live event broadcasting. As more viewers turn to streaming services for access to premium content, providers like Hulu must ensure that their infrastructure can handle the demands of unpredictable live events. Anything less can result in a loss of trust and a migration of users to competing platforms.

In the aftermath of this incident, Hulu will need to take steps to regain the trust of its subscribers and demonstrate its ability to handle high-pressure live events. Until then, the memory of Sunday night's Oscars stream cutoff will linger, serving as a cautionary tale for streaming services seeking to deliver seamless live experiences to their users.