Jimmy Kimmel to host Oscars: Why the late-night host was selected
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Molly Driscoll Staff writer
Viewers may be used to seeing late-night host Jimmy Kimmel on their TVs after the Oscars air for Mr. Kimmel鈥檚 post-Oscars episode, but next year, Kimmel will be emceeing the Academy Awards ceremony.
Kimmel is the host of ABC鈥檚 鈥淛immy Kimmel Live!鈥� late-night show.聽He follows such recent picks as Chris Rock, Neil Patrick Harris, and Ellen DeGeneres. The 2017 Oscars ceremony will be held on Feb. 26 and nominations will be announced on Jan. 24.
The Oscars will air again on ABC next year, which many industry watchers point to as the self-evident reason for Kimmel's selection.聽
called Kimmel鈥檚 selection 鈥渢his most obvious of picks鈥� and expressed surprise that it hadn鈥檛 happened earlier. 鈥淲hy did it take so long to give a shot to a middle-aged straight white guy whose wry humor plays well in red and blue states alike, just like the most successful Oscar host of all-time,聽Johnny Carson?鈥� he wrote.
Mr. Feinberg notes that ABC now has more power over choosing a host after recent negotiations, so it鈥檚 no surprise that the network would want to put the spotlight on its long-running late-night host.聽
In addition, Kimmel鈥檚 hosting of this year鈥檚 Emmy Awards was largely well-received. praised his work, writing that 鈥渁 good deal of the credit for the night鈥檚 overall success should go to Kimmel, whose pointed and funny monologue set the tone for the night 鈥� most of his jokes [were] on point and on target.鈥澛�
However, the ratings for the Emmys were at an all-time low this year. We鈥檒l have to wait and see if Kimmel can turn around the ratings for the 2017 Oscars. The 2016 Academy Awards show was the lowest-rated in eight years.
