Oscars without host has made show compelling, says ABC president

ABC president Kerry Burke called Kevin Hart's departure a boon to the Oscars because it has kept them 'in the conversation'

The new ABC entertainment president, Kerry Burke, is looking at the whole controversy surrounding the 2019 Oscars and the award ceremony going on air without a host in a rather positive way. Kerry Burke in her first appearance in front of the reporters on Tuesday talked about Kevin Hart's departure from the hosting job for the award ceremony. She called his departure a boon to the Oscars because it has kept them 'in the conversation', reported Entertainment Weekly.

"It's really compelling. People really care," she told the reporters during the Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, California.

"I was actually at the nominee luncheon Tuesday. It was a very exciting room to be in. The list of presenters is phenomenal and growing. In no time in history have three movies that have each grossed over USD 200 million have been nominated. There is going to be a big turnout for this. There are big popular movies being nominated," she continued, saying that all of the nominated songs would be performed during the award night.

Burke also added that beyond the messiness of Kevin's situation, the network and Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences are"going to stay the course. There was an idea to just have presenters do the Oscars. We all got on board with that quickly. The main goal that the academy promised ABC last year was to keep the show to three hours. Producers decided to not have a host and to go back to having presenters being stars. That's the best way to keep the show to a brisk three hours."

Burke joined ABC about two months ago and replaced Channing Dungey, who has joined Netflix.

The Oscars ceremony is expected to continue without a host for the first time in three decades after actor-comedian Kevin Hart stepped down from the post following a controversy over his old homophobic tweets that resurfaced online last December.

Numerous names have been considered since then as potential Academy Awards hosts, with the team of Tiffany Haddish and fellow actor-comedian Maya Rudolph gaining popularity after their presentation of the best documentary and best short feature at the 2018 Oscars.

Variety previously reported that the current plan is that producers' will select a group of A-listers' to introduce and present various segments instead of relying on one host for the award ceremony."

The ceremony is scheduled to be held on February 24.

Also read: Oscars 2019 get a diverse line-up of presenters

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