Academy Awards Coverage Starts At Noon

If you’re trying to get geared up for the tonight’s Academy Awards ceremony, E! and the TV Guide channel have just what you need to get the party started. Both networks will start airing coverage of the big event, starting this afternoon.

E!’s coverage begins at noon eastern time with their Countdown to the Red Carpet: 2008 Academy Awards special. The special, which will feature footage and information about this year’s nominees. This will probably prove to be extremely helpful for those of us who are planning to watch the awards tonight but haven’t seen a lot of the movies. The special ends at 6:00 p.m. EST, after which E! will begin airing coverage of the red carpet.

TV Guide’s coverage will start at 3:00 p.m. and in addition to featuring information and footage of the nominees, hosts Chris Harrison, Maria Sanson and Carrie Keagan will talk about the preparations that are being made for the ceremony this year. At 6:00 p.m., TV Guide will air Live at the Academy Awards with Lisa and Joey. Lisa Rinna and Joey Fatone will do celebrity interviews on the red carpet.

Also, at 7:00 p.m., ABC will air Barbara Walters Special. Walters will interview Academy Award nominee Ellen Page as well as Harrison Ford, Vanessa Williams and Miley Cyrus.

The Academy Awards are scheduled to air on ABC at 8:00 p.m. Check in with us then as we'll be covering the event here at Cinema Blend live as it airs!