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Jimmy Kimmel Will Host The 2017 Oscars
Jimmy Kimmel hosting the 68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Jimmy Kimmel has been tapped to host the 89th annual Academy Awards ceremony, reports the Hollywood Reporter.
Kimmel, perhaps best known for helming The Man Show Jimmy Kimmel Live!, is no stranger to doing hosting duties. As noted by the L.A. Times, he's served as emcee for the Emmy Awards (twice), the ESPYS, and the American Music Awards. This will be his first time hosting the granddaddy of all awards shows, however.
Kimmel took to Twitter to confirm the reports. There are suspicions, however, that he's the victim of an inexplicable scheme to have him humiliated:
Yes, I am hosting the Oscars. This is not a prank. And if it is, my revenge on @TheAcademy will be terrible & sweet. Thx to @alsformalwear
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) December 5, 2016
Kimmel has his work cut out for him. Viewership for the Oscars has been precarious as of late. According to CNN Money, last year's ceremony (hosted by Chris Rock), drew in the lowest ratings since 2008, when Jon Stewart was tasked with emcee duties. The shows averaged about 34.3 million and 32 million viewers, respectively.
Ellen DeGeneres, however, set a major record when the show she hosted drew in an average of 43 million viewers in 2014; it was, at the time, the most-watched entertainment telecast in the last 10 years, according to Entertainment Weekly. Which is all to say that Kimmel will be (fairly or unfairly) judged against all these benchmarks.
The announcement comes on the heels of ABC's new rights deal with the Oscars; ABC, which has been airing the awards ceremony since 1976, inked a new deal in August that would keep the Oscars at ABC till 2028. The 2017 Oscars will be held on February 26.
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