Kevin Hart is officially set to host next year’s Oscars awards, the first time he’ll be emceeing the ceremony.

The actor and comedian, 39, will be hosting the 2019 Oscars at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood on February 24th, with ABC supplying the broadcast. He’s set to be joined by two more debutants, with first-time producers Donna Gigliotti and Glenn Weiss in charge of the broadcast, with Gigliotti serving as producer and Weiss as co-producer and director.

“I will be sure to make this year’s Oscars a special one,” Hart wrote on Tuesday afternoon (December 4th) in an Instagram post, saying “now it's time to rise to the occasion”.

“I appreciate @TheAcademy for the opportunity,” he wrote additionally. “For years I have been asked if I would ever Host the Oscars and my answer was always the same… I said that it would be the opportunity of a lifetime for me as a comedian and that it will happen when it's supposed to.”

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Jimmy Kimmel has fronted the previous two Oscars ceremonies, with Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd helming the broadcast. However, on both occasions, the Oscars received lower ratings than the year before, with a record low 26.5 million tuning in for the 2018 ceremony in March, with many complaining that the show was too long.

Kevin HartKevin Hart is to host the 2019 Oscars awards ceremony

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences – the body in charge of the Oscars – has already promised that the 2019 show won’t exceed three hours, confirming that not all the awards in the 24 Oscar categories will be revealed live. Instead, six to eight categories will be announced before the audience during commercial breaks in the broadcast.

However, much-reported plans for a “popular” Oscar category, reflecting the year’s biggest box office successes, were shelved in August following a backlash.

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