After last year’s Oscars witnessed a spike in viewers compared to the year before, perhaps the producers thought that was a specific reason for the uptick.
Not that there’s a true way to measure how much the lack of a host led to this year’s lowest-ever ratings, but it will be interesting to see if execs decide to reverse course by bringing someone back to lead things in 2021.
This year’s broadcast was the second in a row to go without a central host, following last year’s kerfuffle in which potential host Kevin Hart dropped out after a controversy involving old social media posts.