ABC is hoping to drive viewers to its host-less telecast of the 91st Academy Awards on Sunday by dangling the promise of cold, hard cash to one lucky winner.
The broadcaster on will launch “The Official Oscar Game,” a live game that will let viewers play along in real time during the awards presentation. The game’s interactive ballot will allow fans to earn points by predicting Oscar winners in each category and will also pose trivia questions — with the top players eligible to win $50,000 in the grand prize drawing.
To play, users can sign up starting Saturday, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. ET at oscar.com/game. Then, during the telecast, they must watch live on Sunday, Feb. 24, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on ABC in order to play.
One winner will be randomly selected from among players with the most number of correct answers, who will will also appear on The Oscar Game’s Top 100 Leaderboard.
It’s the first time ABC is launching play-along live trivia game for the Oscars, after movie fans have been printing out ballots and following along with the TV broadcast for years. The game is among the latest cash-based live digital games spawned by the popularity of HQ Trivia since it debuted a year and a half ago.
The 2019 Oscars telecast has generated more than its share of controversy. Kevin Hart backed out of hosting the kudocast, and producers ultimately opted to go with no host. Then last week, after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that four awards would be presented during commercial breaks resulted in a major backlash, the Academy reversed the decision just days later.
In addition to the Oscars predictions and trivia, ABC’s Official Oscar Game will feature real-time polls as well as behind-the-scenes content throughout the live telecast. The game is open to legal residents of U.S. and Washington, D.C., who are 18 or older.