It's the television event of the year. The tributes, the tears, the joy and the fashions make the 76th Annual Academy Awards a must-see show.

And once again CTV will provide extensive coverage of the most-watched and most-talked about special event.

Last year, more than 4.6 million viewers in Canada watched the awards.

This year, one of Oscar's favourite hosts, Billy Crystal, will captain the ship as the Academy Awards set sail on Sunday, Feb. 29.

As the only accredited Canadian broadcaster with access to the stars CTV will give Canadians a customized front row seat for television's most eagerly anticipated annual event.

At 7 p.m. ET, the traditional Barbara Walters Special will air on CTV with Oscar nominated guests and Billy Crystal.

One hour later, On the Red Carpet: Oscars 2004, the official Red Carpet pre-show will air at 8 p.m. ET.

And at 8:30 p.m. ET the monster of all awards shows will kick off as Crystal entertains millions of viewers around the world.

But before the awards, on Friday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. ET, Canada's number one entertainment series etalk DAILY dedicates its entire show to everything Oscar. They'll take viewers through this year's hottest races, including Best Supporting Actor & Actress, Best Actor & Actress, Best Director and of course, the most-coveted Best Picture Award.

But that's not all -- over the coming weeks stay tuned as CTV unveils more of its exclusive Oscar coverage.