Actor and comedian Kevin Hart is set to host the 91st Annual Academy Awards telecast to be held on February 24, 2019. The Night School star announced the news Tuesday afternoon on his Instagram account. According to Vanity Fair, The move comes at a time when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is in what is said to be a desperate need of a ratings boost for its annual telecast. Last year, the audience declined to an all-time low of 26.5 million viewers (from a recent high in 2014 of 43 million viewers) and the organization, along with its broadcaster ABC, have suggested radical changes to help improve the show’s viewership, including a promise that it will not run over three hours.
First-time producers Donna Gigliotti and Glenn Weiss will oversee the show, with Gigliotti serving as producer and Weiss on hand as co-producer and director. “I will be sure to make this years Oscars a special one,” the comedian wrote on his Instagram post, adding, “now it’s time to rise to the occasion.” This will mark the first time Kevin Hart will host the Oscars as he follows in the footsteps of predecessor Jimmy Kimmel who has hosted twice in the last two years, with ratings declining further, with a record-low 26.5 million viewers tuning in for last March’s broadcast, which adds to the pressure the new team will face in mounting the kudocast.
The Academy, which has promised that the show won’t run over three hours, has already announced one change — not all the awards in the 24 Oscar categories will be revealed live. Instead, six to eight categories will be announced before the audience at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood during commercial breaks, and edited excerpts from the acceptances will be aired later in the broadcast.
Hart previously hosted the MTV Movie Awards along with his Central Intelligence co-star Dwayne Johnson. He has publicly spoken about wanting to host the Oscars since at least 2015, when he told the morning show Live With Kelly and Michael (now Live With Kelly and Ryan) that he was actively campaigning to get the role.
Source: Vanity Fair