No ABC on Cablevision? Tips for Oscars watching
A commercial billboard described as a "supergraphic" ad for Asics sports wear, left, is seen on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles on Thursday, March. 4, 2010. The Los Angeles city attorney's office has filed its first charges under a ban passed last year on the giant building-cloaking signs known as super graphics and most other digital billboards. City prosecutors have charged four people and four companies with illegally hanging giant billboards at an intersection near the site of the upcoming Oscars, days after they jailed a man for putting up a separate eight-story supergraphic ad across the street. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) Credit: AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes
With WABC/7 yanked off Cablevision in an ongoing dispute over retransmission fees, what are Long Island Oscars fans to do?
Click here for the latest on the Cablevision-WABC situation.
You can head over to the house of a friend who is hooked up to a Cablevision competitor. Or go to Uncle Bob and Aunt Sue's who might have a converter box and antenna.
Otherwise, options are limited. Some to consider:
Converter: These are the standard analog-to-digital converter boxes you can buy if you don't already have a digital set. Target lists the Apex DTS50A at $49.99, while Walmart stocks the AccessHD 1080-U box at $42. Best to check your outlet first to see if they are in stock.
Online: A spokeswoman for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences says, "There are no sites that can legally stream the ceremony [and] as yet, the Academy has not sold the rights for the show on the Internet." In the meantime, check out this site, which streams an ABC signal in real time: www.channelsurfing.net/watch-abc.html. Will it show tonight's Oscars ceremony as it happens? We won't know until showtime. Also, check out live channel Justin.TV.
AP and Livestream: This collaboration between one of the world's leading news organizations and a video app maker won't get you the ceremonies, but it does promise the red carpet, post-Oscars interviews and frequent updates at www.livestream.com/aplive. The site goes live from the red carpet at 6 p.m.
Follow a blog: Many will put you immediately in the loop, including at newsday.com.
Goldderby.latimes.com: Exhaustive blog by awards expert Tom O'Neil.
deadline.com/hollywood: Nikki Finke's inimitable take on Oscars hoopla, salted with ridicule and bile.
Zap2it.com: The all-things-TV site also has an all-things-Oscars blog. Check it out here: zap2it.com/movies/oscars/zap-oscars,0,6650211.htmlstory.
