Oscars 2020: Awards Show To Go Hostless Once Again

Hollywood’s biggest night, the Academy Awards will go hostless for the second consecutive year after ABC Entertainment President Karey Burke announced that the viewers won’t see anyone hosting this year’s show.

Speaking with the Hollywood Reporter, the head of ABC Entertainment revealed that star-studded night will not have a traditional host for the second year in a row because last year’s ceremony saw the viewership go up by 11.5 percent and she is not taking any chances this time, too.

“Let me confirm it now, together with the Academy, that there will be no traditional host this year,” Burke said.

Last year, Burke did give an indication that the Oscars might go ahead without a host this time time, too. Back then, Burke told the media outlet that she was having extensive conversations with the Academy regarding the matter. She also noted that they were extremely happy with the way the show went and they would think of repeating the “successful” formula.

In 2019, almost 30 million people saw the Oscars on television, which was slightly up than the numbers it achieved in 2018.

Meanwhile, Variety cited Burke saying that people can expect a lot of amazing things this year which will make the show one of the best Oscars ever.

“We expect that we’re going to have a very commercial set of nominations and a lot of incredible elements have come together that make us think we are going to have a very entertaining show again,” Burke said.

Last year’s Oscars saw the ceremony going hostless for the first time since 1989. Standup comedian and actor Kevin Hart was announced as the host of last year’s event, but he later decided to step down after many of his inappropriate tweets went viral at the time.

Many A-list celebrities like Hugh Jackman, Ellen DeGeneres, Chris Rock, Jimmy Kimmel, Billy Crystal, Jon Stewart, Neil Patrick Harris and Seth MacFarlane have hosted the show. Meanwhile, James Franco and Anne Hathaway hosted the event as a pair.

The nominations for the 92nd Academy Awards will be unveiled on Jan. 13 and the ceremony will take place on Feb. 9 at the Dolby Theatre in California.