RuPaul’s Drag Race season 12 is here, so how do you stream it online in 2020? It’s been more than a little frustrating thanks to its absence from Netflix and Hulu.
RuPaul’s Drag Race season 12 stars queens Aiden Zhane, Brita Filter, Crystal Methyd, Dahlia Sin, Gigi Goode, Heidi N Closet, Jackie Cox, Jaida Essence Hall, Jan Sport, Nicky Doll, Rock M. Sakura, Sherry Pie, and Widow Von’Du.
Meanwhile, this year’s guest judges include Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Chaka Khan, Daisy Ridley, Daniel Franzese, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bennett, Leslie Jones, Nicki Minaj, Normani, Olivia Munn, Rachel Bloom, Robyn, Thandie Newton, Whoopi Goldberg, and Winnie Harlow.
I’m ecstatic that the show is so successful now, but I have one question: Why is it so hard for United States viewers to stream RuPaul’s Drag Race season 12 online, in places like Hulu and Netflix? At one point it was possible to stream Drag Race for free.
How to stream RuPaul’s Drag Race season 12 online
So, how can you stream RuPaul’s Drag Race season 12? If you have a cable subscription and a digital login, you can use it to watch the show via VH1’s website. Episodes of Untucked are also available there. The other option is to fork over $24.99 on iTunes for a season pass or pay $2.99 per episode for the ones you miss. Otherwise, you’re out of luck — there’s simply no way to stream the show online.
I get that licensing agreements expire and RuPaul’s Drag Race deal with Hulu is over. But to add salt to the wound, a new agreement with Netflix U.K. allows viewers in that country to watch episodes of the show the day after they air in the U.S., so that means everyone in America gets the short end of the stick when it comes to trying to stream RuPaul’s Drag Race online.
It’s easy to watch RuPaul’s Drag Race live (so long as you have a cable subscription), but for anyone who doesn’t have cable (or you have other things going on when it airs) it’s been way harder to catch up. In previous years I’ve had to resort to buying an iTunes season pass so I could legally watch the episodes as quickly as they air, but not everyone has that luxury.
For readers who don’t know, Drag Race moved from Logo to VH1 in 2017, which means that a lot more people now have access to the show when it airs live. It’s a smart move, particularly because Logo still gets to air the new episodes after the premiere. Prior to season 9, Drag Race was available to stream from Logo’s website and Hulu, and now…neither.
RuPaul will be on the move again for the next installment of Drag Race All-Stars, which is slated to air on Showtime in 2020. Frustratingly, Showtime requires a separate subscription just like HBO.
Before buying my iTunes season pass I looked and looked and I simply could not find RuPaul’s Drag Race season 12 on any streaming service, and it looks like VH1 is taking the show hostage, letting only those willing to pay the ransom to enjoy it, whereas Logo at least let us have it for free.
Hypable reached out to VH1 to ask why RuPaul’s Drag Race is so hard to find now compared to in the past. We also asked why the U.S. wasn’t included in their Netflix agreement. They responded with the following statement: “More audiences than ever before are watching ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Friday nights on VH1.”
More audiences might be watching live but the rest of us appear to be out of luck. Those of us who relied on Hulu and Logo.com to provide us with our weekly dose of drag no longer have streaming options, and VH1 doesn’t seem to care unless you already pay for cable.
With RuPaul’s Drag Race at the start of their new licensing agreements I doubt things will change anytime soon. Until then, we’ll have to sashay over to iTunes.
Have you been having as much trouble watching the show as I have?
This article was updated in 2020 with the latest information for RuPaul’s Drag Race season 12.
The post How to stream ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ season 12 online appeared first on Hypable.
