The 2020 Academy Awards are set to air without a host for the second year in a row, Deadline has shared following ABC Entertainment President Karey Burke’s official announcement during her executive session at TCA.
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“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,” said Burke.
The 2019 Academy Awards went host-less following Kevin Hart’s withdrawal due to controversial tweets made by the actor and comedian. The move proved successful for the broadcast, which was filled with big-star presenters, big moments — such as a Queen medley and Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s performance of “Shallow” — and the key inclusion of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler in keeping the event running smoothly and with plenty of entertainment in between the award announcements.
The 2019 award show was also shorter than its previous year by about 30 minutes and had a 12% rise in viewers as well as 13% in the adults 18-49 demo over the 2018 Oscars.
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Burke previously said that they were “extremely proud” of how well the 2019 Oscars turned out and hinted that the 2020 Oscars would also go host-less after saying that they were “not messing with that format” to the “best of our abilities.”
The 92nd Academy Awards will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on February 9 on ABC.
