Fourth time must still be the charm.
Late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel will be returning to host the 96th Oscars telecast airing live on ABC on Sunday, March 10, 2024.
Once again joining him is his spouse Molly McNearney, one of the head writers and executive producers of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” She will serve as an executive producer of the 2024 Academy Awards, joining the previously announced team led by Katy Mullan and showrunner Raj Kapoor.
“We are thrilled about Jimmy returning to host and Molly returning as executive producer for the Oscars. They share our love of movies and our commitment to producing a dynamic and entertaining show for our global audience,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and President Janet Yang in a joint statement attached to the announcement. “We are deeply grateful to Jimmy, Molly and their teams for their incredible creativity and partnership and for going on this ride with us again.”
“I always dreamed of hosting the Oscars exactly four times,” added Kimmel.
“Jimmy has cemented himself as one of the all-time great Oscars hosts with his perfect blend of humanity and humor, and Molly is one of the best live TV producers around. We are delighted to be working with them and their teams on the show,” said Kapoor and Mullan via a press statement.
As mentioned above Kimmel has not only hosted the awards ceremony before, but is also the last person to do so back to back. While his most memorable performance may be his hosting debut in 2017, where the wrong Best Picture winner was called, forever linking the films “Moonlight” and “La La Land,” his return last year was in response to a more infamous moment at the Oscars.
Tasked last year with hosting the first Academy Awards post-Slap, Kimmel helped usher in a 13 percent increase in viewership from the previous year, making the 2023 Oscars the most watched awards show in three years—a big win for the new regime in charge at the Academy, led by Kramer and Yang.
Kimmel’s return also aligns with what the former has looked to do with the Oscars since taking over as Academy CEO in June 2022, with Kramer saying in a press conference that the organization hoped to “engage in multi-year partnerships with producers.”
The 96th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 10, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide.
