Everything you need before the Oscars 2026 tonight, including UK start time, how to watch live, and the latest odds for the top categories.
The 2026 Oscars take place tonight, with the 98th Academy Awards set to get underway at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Conan O’Brien is back to host for a second straight year, while the biggest stories heading into the ceremony are the record-breaking 16 nominations for Sinners and the challenge posed by One Battle After Another, which landed 13 nods of its own.
For UK viewers, this is one of the few years where Hollywood’s biggest night arrives a little earlier than usual, while the betting markets are now close to fully formed just hours before the first awards are handed out. Here’s everything you need to know before Oscars night begins.
When is the Oscars 2026? (UK time)
The Oscars are tonight, Sunday 15 March 2026, with the main ceremony beginning at 11:00pm GMT for viewers in the UK. The show starts at 7:00pm ET / 4:00pm PT in Los Angeles, which means British viewers can tune in just before midnight rather than waiting until the early hours for the opening monologue.
ITV’s UK coverage begins earlier in the evening, with live build-up and red-carpet coverage starting from 10:15pm GMT. The ceremony itself is expected to run into the early hours of Monday morning.
How & where can I watch the Oscars in the UK?
UK viewers can watch the Oscars 2026 live and free-to-air on ITV1, with streaming coverage also available through ITVX. In Scotland, the ceremony is also available via STV and STV Player.
Jonathan Ross is once again fronting ITV’s coverage, with the broadcaster carrying the red carpet and the full ceremony live from Hollywood. In the US, the Oscars air on ABC and stream on Hulu, but for British viewers ITV remains the home of the ceremony tonight.
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Who is the favourite to win Best Picture?
The Best Picture market is still headed by One Battle After Another, which is the favourite at 1/4 going into tonight’s ceremony.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s film has held its place at the top of the market for much of awards season and remains the one bookmakers make most likely to land the biggest prize of the night. However, the gap is not an unbridgeable one, with Sinners still a live danger at 7/2 after becoming the most nominated film in Oscars history.
Behind the front two, Hamnet is next best at 33/1, while Marty Supreme is available at 50/1. The rest of the field looks up against it, with Sentimental Value out at 100/1, Train Dreams at 125/1 and Bugonia trading as big as 150/1 in places. That underlines how strongly this market remains focused on a straight fight between One Battle After Another and Sinners.
Who is the favourite to win Best Actor?
The Best Actor betting remains one of the livelier major races on the card, but Michael B. Jordan is the market leader ahead of tonight’s ceremony at 8/11 for Sinners.
Jordan has been the name at the top of the market for much of the run-in, but this is not an odds-on certainty in the same way as some of the other headline categories. Timothée Chalamet is still firmly in the hunt at 15/8 for Marty Supreme, leaving this as one of the more competitive contests still left to settle on Oscar night.
Further back, Leonardo DiCaprio is a 16/1 shot for One Battle After Another, while Wagner Moura is out at 25/1 for The Secret Agent. Ethan Hawke is the outsider of the main nominees at 33/1 for Blue Moon.
Who is the favourite to win Best Actress?
The Best Actress market looks far more straightforward, with Jessie Buckley a commanding favourite at 1/40 for Hamnet.
Buckley has long looked the standout contender in this category and the latest prices suggest bookmakers see this as one of the most settled races of the entire night. Even before the ceremony begins, the market has her priced up as one of the shortest favourites on the board.
The nearest challenger is Rose Byrne, who is available at 25/1 for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. Kate Hudson is priced at 50/1 for Song Sung Blue, while Emma Stone can be backed at 80/1 for Bugonia and Renate Reinsve is a 100/1 outsider for Sentimental Value. On the prices alone, this looks one of the clearest markets on the 2026 Oscars betting board.
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Who is the favourite to win Best Director?
The Best Director market is another category where the favourite has hardened significantly, with Paul Thomas Anderson priced at 1/16for One Battle After Another.
That makes Anderson one of the shortest-priced names in any of the major Oscars races tonight, with the market strongly suggesting this is his award to lose. While Sinners has dominated plenty of the wider conversation thanks to its record-setting nominations haul, bookmakers still make Anderson the standout in directing.
Ryan Coogler is the second favourite at 10/1 for Sinners, while Chloé Zhao is much bigger at 66/1 for Hamnet. Josh Safdie is available at 100/1 for Marty Supreme, and Joachim Trier is also as big as 100/1 for Sentimental Value. This is one of the markets where the favourite appears to hold a particularly strong hand heading into the ceremony.
Who is the favourite to win Best Original Screenplay?
In Best Original Screenplay, Sinners is the clear favourite at 1/16, making it one of the shortest-priced selections on the major Oscars card tonight.
That price reflects the strength of support behind the film’s writing throughout awards season, and it gives Sinners one of its strongest-looking opportunities to convert nominations into a major win. It may not be favourite for Best Picture, but the screenplay market is telling a much more decisive story.
The second favourite is Marty Supreme at 16/1, with Sentimental Value available at 20/1. It Was Just an Accident is next in the betting at 33/1, while Blue Moon is a 50/1 outsider. Compared to the Best Picture race, this is one of the more one-sided categories on the board.
Bet on the Oscars with Oddschecker
With the Oscars taking place tonight, Oddschecker is the best place to compare the latest prices across every major market, from Best Picture and Best Actor to Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.
Whether you want to track the strength behind the short-priced favourites or look for value against the market leaders in the final hours before the ceremony, Oddschecker lets you compare prices across bookmakers in one place.
Visit the Oddschecker Oscars page to compare odds, follow any late market movement and find the best prices ahead of Hollywood’s biggest night.
