After months of speculation, scandal, and tough questions, this year’s Academy Awards not only was without any real drama but also increased ratings in a time when awards shows seem to be hemorrhaging viewers. And because of the lessons learned in 2019, it looks like ABC is going to attempt to replicate the success and build off of it with next year’s Oscars ceremony.
In an interview with THR, ABC’s entertainment president Karey Burke talked the fallout of this year’s Oscars and how next year might be a very similar show, with nary a host to be found.
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As mentioned, the 2019 Oscars saw an increase in viewership, when many were predicting the show to be an unwieldy mess, since the Academy and ABC couldn’t find a host and there were all sorts of behind-the-scenes drama. But according to Burke, there were many reasons why the show not only went off without a hitch but also grew from last year’s viewership.
“Three movies up for best picture made over $200 million,” said Burke. “They deserve a lot of the credit. And so many people tuned in to see Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper sing. Every time that clip is watched, it’s got the ABC bug in the corner. I love that. It’s going to be in every promo reel I do. People tuned in expecting to see a train wreck and got a good show instead.”
One of those contributing factors to what many see as a fairly fast-paced, entertaining show was the lack of a host. After Kevin Hart backed out of the job, due to controversy, it was assumed that the ABC Oscars telecast would flounder and fail. Instead, the network was able to pull together some entertaining segments featuring celebrities that are beloved and many viewers ended up not even missing the host at all.
So, in the future, it appears we can expect another hostless show next year.
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“We’re having those conversations with the Academy right now,” she said. “We are extremely happy with how the show went. Odds are you’ll see us repeating what we consider to be a successful formula.”
There are still plenty of questions that need to be answered regarding the Oscars over the next year (the Popular Film category being one of them), but it looks like ABC is ready to use the wisdom gained from 2019 and replicate it in the future.