More than 33,000 users reported an inability to log onto Hulu just as the 97th Academy Award telecast was set to begin. Thousands more saw their stream abruptly end before the best picture award.

Walt Disney Co.’s Hulu streaming channel was experiencing technical difficulties during the Oscars ceremony on Sunday night, shutting out tens of thousands of paying customers during Hollywood’s signature event.

The error came down to scheduling: Hulu gave the Oscars a set ending time of 10:32PM. That’s exactly when viewers started getting kicked out of the stream. But as usual, several acceptance speeches ran long on Sunday night, and Hulu’s chosen cutoff time didn’t allow enough wiggle room for an often-unpredictable broadcast.