ABC and The Academy had been toying around with not having a host for the Oscar telecast for the second year in a row but now it’s official: Kathy Burke, entertainment president for ABC, has announced that the 2020 Academy Awards will have no host.
Here is what Burke had to say about the decision:
“Together with the Academy, we have decided there will be no traditional host, repeating for us what worked last year. It will have huge entertainment values, big musical numbers, comedy and star power.”
Last year, the telecast went without a host but it was more of a product of necessity. Kevin Hart withdrew two days after being named to host the event when controversial decade-old tweets resurfaced. They made attempts to get him back, which included a plea for him to apologize for the tweets, but Hart refused because he had already addressed the tweets in the past and actually apologized beforehand. He didn’t want to apologize again to simply keep the job.
After that debacle, ABC forged ahead with no host, marking the first time this had been done since 1989. The end result ended up being worth it since the show was more streamlined and shorter than the 2018 telecast which resulted in an uptick of 12% in total viewers and an increase of 13% in adults 18-49.
