This Sunday, March 10, the 96th Academy Awards will bring together the biggest stars in Hollywood to determine who will go home with the top prizes. Oppenheimer, Barbie, and eight other films are contending for Best Picture, and it’s still too early to know which movies will dominate and which ones will come up short. It’s also going to be interesting to see if this year’s Oscar ceremony can finish on time, even with its early start. It’s the job of the Oscars host to keep things moving, in addition to entertaining the crowd in the Dolby Theater and the millions of viewers who watch the event on TV.
Since the first Oscars ceremony in 1929, there have been over 70 hosts of the Academy Awards. Although the Academy attempted to have a few Oscars without hosts, the show tends to be better when it’s run by someone who has done it before. And that’s why this year’s Oscar host is a three-time veteran.
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Who is hosting the 2024 Oscars?
For the fourth time in seven years, Jimmy Kimmel will be the host at the Academy Awards. That may seem like a lot of chances on Hollywood’s biggest stage, but even Kimmel only ranks fourth on the list of most prolific Oscar hosts. If Kimmel hosts the Oscars for a fifth time, he could share third place with late-night comedy icon Johnny Carson. Billy Crystal, one of the most popular Oscar hosts, has had the honor 9 different times. Even Kimmel would be hard-pressed to catch up with Crystal. But the all-time leading Oscar host is Bob Hope, who served as the emcee 19 times. That’s a record that will likely remain unbroken.
Among modern hosts, Kimmel also has the distinction of having hosted the Emmy Awards on three occasions, and he has hosted his own late-night talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, on ABC since 2003. Prior to that, Kimmel was the co-host of Comedy Central’s The Man Show.
What time will the Oscars be held this year?
The new start time is 4 pm PST/7 pm EST on Sunday, March 10. The ceremony will be broadcast live on ABC. However, it will only be available to stream on the ABC app or through cable or live-TV services that carry ABC.
