2019 OSCARS - HOW, WHAT & WHERE TO WATCH. Your comprehensive TV guide to watch The 91st Academy Awards and all the various red carpet lead-up programming.

The 91st Annual Academy Awards, known as the Oscars, is taking place on Sunday in Hollywood from the Dolby Theatre and for the first time ever South African viewers will see Ryan Seacrest appear and doing pre-ceremony red carpet duty on both E! Entertainment as well as M-Net because of a fascinating broadcast contract twist.

Here's your comprehensive TV guide on exactly how, the channels, and the times, where you can watch the show as well as the surrounding red carpet coverage.

Two things are important to note - firstly, NBCUniversal's E! (DStv 124) for the 4th year in a row will again not have any actual red carpet coverage during the last hour of red carpet arrivals since those rights belong to the ABC network in America, so viewers will have to switch to M-Net Movies Premiere (DStv 104) for the live red carpet coverage done and simulcast from the ABC network in America.

Secondly, South Africa's Anele Mdoda is at the red carpet for a M-Net Movies Premiere (DStv 104) TV special that will be broadcast on Monday night. It's the second time in history that a South African TV reporter is doing red carpet duty at the Oscars, and the second time that South Africa will have its own red carpet Oscars TV special.

Here's your must-know rundown TV guide list:

On the Red Carpet: Oscars 2019 The Arrivals 
▪ Sunday 24 February 23:30 - 01:30 (LIVE) M-Net Movies Premiere (DStv 104)

The official red carpet coverage broadcast kicks off looking at the fashion as the stars arrive and interviews with the stars. Maria Menounos, Elaine Welteroth and Ashley Graham will interview nominees, performers and attendees as they arrive while Billy Porter will do fashion and glamour commentary.

Oscars: Live from the Red Carpet 2019 
▪ Monday 25 February 01:30 - 03:00 (LIVE) M-Net Movies Premiere (DStv 104)

The official red carpet coverage broadcast continues with interviews with the stars. 

Interesting to note is that E!'s Ryan Seacrest will show up from 02:30 in this broadcast on M-Net, joining the broadcast for the final half hour until the awards show starts at 03:00.

This is happening because Ryan Seacrest is the host of American Idol, showing in the United States on the ABC network, the same channel carrying the Oscars. 

ABC asked Ryan Seacrest to present and can choose who it wants to, and in this case, wants to use Ryan Seacrest since he's a talent on ABC and it will help to create buzz for the upcoming next season of American Idol.

Also note that E!, besides not having Ryan Seacrest for the last half hour, will also again not have live coverage from the red carpet for the last hour from 02:00 since ABC holds the rights as the official broadcast partner. This show will remain live from the red carpet until it switches to the awards show.

Live from the Red Carpet: The 2019 Oscars 

▪ Monday 25 February 00:00 - 02:30 (LIVE) E! (DStv 124)

While MultiChoice's electronic programme guide (EPG) is wrong and doesn't reflect the latest programming amendments of what E! will really be showing, this is what the televised coverage really will be for viewers in South Africa and across Africa:

 

E! for Africa will no longer show the usual Countdown to the Red Carpet preceding Live from the Red Carpet but will start at midnight with Ryan Seacrest and Giuliana Rancic headlining E!'s red carpet coverage and doing interviews. From 02:00  to 03:00 E! will do filler Oscar coverage not from the actual red carpet.

While Ryan Seacrest and Giuliana Rancic will cover from the red carpet The Real presenter Jeannie Mai, fashion and beauty expert Kahlana Barfield Brown, E! News style correspondent Zanna Roberts Rassi, fashion designer Christian Siriano, celebrity stylist Brad Goreski, and Very Cavallari star Kristin Cavallari will do commentary from The Roosevelt Hotel.

E! News correspondent and film expert Kristin Dos Santos and film expert Xilla Valentine will report live from Ripley's Believe It or Not! rooftop for a bird's eye view of all the action and the limo drop-off. E! News co-host Jason Kennedy and E! News correspondent Zuri Hall will also be at the Oscars red carpet.

The E! Glambot will also return to the Oscars with music video director and creative director, Cole Walliser, to capture one of a kind red carpet moments.

Red Carpet Rundown: Oscars 2019 

▪ Monday 25 February 02:00 - 03:00 E! (DStv 124)

Presented by Jeannie Mai looking at the fashion of stars who've arrived so far for the ceremony since E! isn't allowed red carpet access during the last hour before the awards show starts.

91 Annual Academy Awards 

▪ Monday 25 February 03:00 - 06:25 (LIVE) M-Net Movies Premiere (DStv 104)

The live simulcast of the awards show. Look out for South Africa's Trevor Noah of The Daily Show on Comedy Central and Charlize Theron who will both appear on stage during the course of the show as presenters.

M-Net will broadcast the Oscars across Africa in South Africa as well as with the following countries and territories covered by the M-Net Africa agreement: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Comoros, the Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malabo, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nambia, Niger, Nigeria, Reunion Island, Rwanda, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, St. Helena, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Western Sahara, Zaire, Zambia, Zanzibar, and Zimbabwe.

Anele at the Oscars 

▪ Monday 25 February 20:30 M-Net Movies Premiere (DStv 104)

A pre-recorded half-hour with Anele Mdoda in Hollywood covering the glitz, glam and excitement of Hollywood's biggest night.

91 Annual Academy Awards 

▪ Monday 25 February 21:00 M-Net (DStv 101)

The prime-time rebroadcast of the awards show.

Daily Pop: Oscars 2019 

▪ Tuesday 26 February 14:30 E! (DStv 124)

Presenters Carissa Culiner, Morgan Stewart and Justin Sylvester will discuss the most unforgettable moments and hottest fashion from the Oscars. The panel will be joined by Very Cavallari star Kristin Cavallari and film expert Nikki Novak.

E! News: Oscars 2019 

▪ Tuesday 26 February 19:05 E! (DStv 124)

Giuliana Rancic, Jason Kennedy and E!'s team of correspondents will do a special Oscars recap with all the insider secrets, surprises, snubs and backstage shockers, plus the biggest fashion risks and hottest after-parties.

Trevor Noah will be on the Oscars stage for the 91st Academy Awards, joining the already announced Charlize Theron as a presenter.

The South African comedian Trevor Noah will be on the Oscars stage very early Monday morning South African time for the 91st Academy Awards in Los Angeles, when he, together with a diverse group of other stars, will introduce the 8 Best Picture nominees.

Besides Trevor Noah, Charlize Theron has also already been announced earlier this month as one of the presenters for this year's Oscars ceremony that will be held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

Trevor Noah is the presenter of The Daily Show on Comedy Central (DStv 122).

The producers of the 91st Academy Awards on Wednesday night in a statement said that Trevor Noah, Barbara Streisand, Serena Williams, Dana Carvey, Queen Latifah, Diego Luna, Mike Myers and some others will introduce the 8 Best Picture nominees during the ceremony.

"Movies connect us all," said producer Donna Gigliotti and producer-director Glenn Weiss in a statement from the Academy.

"They move us, and they create moments and memories that unite us. We are thrilled to assemble this well-known array of film lovers to introduce and share their reflections on the Best Picture-nominated movies."

The Oscars will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

The 91st Academy Awards will be broadcast on M-Net Movies Premiere (DStv 104) from 03:00 on Monday morning, 25 February, with a delayed broadcast later on the same day on M-Net (DStv 101) at 21:00.

Africa's film profile rising as 6 films from the continent enter the 91st Academy Awards foreign film race with Malawi and Niger as first-time Oscars entrants.

Africa's film star continues to rise as more countries from the continent continue to submit entries in the Academy Awards foreign language category and with Malawi and Niger becoming first-time entrants this year in the film race that received 87 approved submissions for the Oscars this year.

Eighty-seven countries qualified for submitted films for consideration in the foreign-language film category for the 91st Academy Awards with Malawi that submitted Shemu Joyah's The Road to Sunrise, and Niger that submitted Rahmatou Keita's The Wedding Ring.

Nigeria is absent but 6 African countries feature on this year's approved foreign language race list, with the 87 films that are slightly down from the record-setting 92 that were submitted and approved last year.

Nominations for the 91st Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday 22 January 2019 with the 91st Oscars ceremony that will be held on Sunday 4 February 2019, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Los Angeles.

It will be televised live and again during prime time in South Africa and across Africa on M-Net (DStv 101) on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform. The Oscars will be shown live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

Egypt, Yomeddine, A.B. Shawky, director

Kenya, Supa Modo, Likarion Wainaina, director

Malawi, The Road to Sunrise, Shemu Joyah, director

Morocco, Burnout, Nour-Eddine Lakhmari, director

Niger, The Wedding Ring, Rahmatou Keïta, director

South Africa, Sew the Winter to My Skin, Jahmil X.T. Qubeka, director