Comedian and talk show host Conan O’Brien will reportedly return to host the Oscars next year for the third consecutive time despite a 9% decline in viewership between the 2025 and 2026 awards ceremonies. O’Brien first hosted the prestigious Academy Awards in 2025 and followed it up with a second hosting gig in 2026.
The 2025 ceremony, which aired on ABC and Hulu, pulled in a viewership of 19.69 million viewers, while the 2026 event recorded a 9% drop, with a recorded 17.86 million viewers. The 2027 Oscars will be the penultimate edition of the awards show to be aired on Hulu and ABC, as the ceremony will be livestreamed on YouTube from 2029.
On May 12, 2026, Disney announced Conan O’Brien‘s return to host the Oscars during its upfront presentation. The company further added that Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan will return as the ceremony’s producers for the fourth time in a row, in addition to Jeff Ross and Mike Sweeney for the third consecutive time.
Craig Erwich, president of Disney Television Group, credited O’Brien with bringing “remarkable energy” around the Oscars, adding:
“Conan has created remarkable energy around the Oscars. His singular comedic voice makes Hollywood’s biggest night one of the most entertaining celebrations of the year.”
Meanwhile, Kapoor and Mullan added that Conan O’Brien “brings that signature humor everyone loves, along with a real warmth and generosity that carry through the entire show.” They further called him a “true creative partner” whom they can trust to make the process “genuinely fun, both behind the scenes and onstage.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Film Academy’s CEO Bill Kramer and president Lynette Howell Taylor also addressed Conan O’Brien and the producers’ return to the Oscars next year, adding:
“They are an incredible team and have produced such captivating, entertaining and heartfelt shows over the last two years. We are so grateful for their ongoing partnership as we honor our global film community — and we look forward to Conan superbly leading the celebration with his brilliance and humor.”
Conan O’Brien tested out his Oscar opening monologue at various comedy clubs
Conan O’Brien returned to the Oscars stage on March 15, 2026, a year after he hosted for the first time in 2025. Ahead of his hosting gig, the veteran comedian revealed that he tested out various bits from his monologue at comedy clubs to judge the reception and make changes. Speaking to Good Morning America, the comedian said:
“The crowds really like it, because I’m a surprise, so they don’t know that I’m gonna show up. And some of these are very far-flung comedy clubs. They’re also a bowling alley. They’re also a car rental place. You have a decent chance of getting a [laugh] — or punched, but either way, it’s entertainment.”
Conan O’Brien also admitted that he and his writers had trouble coming up with a joke about Best Picture nominee Train Dreams, adding that his writers wrote “5,000 jokes” for the movie and not a single one turned out good.
Conan O’Brien, who appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on March 11, said the best joke they could make about the movie was that it proved “being a Pacific Northwest lumberjack in the early 1900s wasn’t as fun as it sounds.” O’Brien then playfully chided the talk show audience for their response to the joke and said he didn’t want “pity applause,” adding, “You waited, you were sad, as I was. That’s why you’re not gonna see this joke.”
In a cover story for The Hollywood Reporter on March 9, Conan O’Brien revealed why he decided to accept the Oscars hosting despite it being the “most thankless gig in Hollywood,” as the publication put it. The comedian replied that he had a “little bearded Viking” inside him that made decisions for him, adding:
“There’s a little bearded Viking inside me. He’s been there since I was 10 years old. And when that Viking decides on something — whether it’s replacing David Letterman with no experience, skiing some advanced slope I have no business going down or hosting the Oscars, that’s what’s going to happen.”
The 2027 Oscars will be held at the Dolby Theatre in Ovation Hollywood on March 14, 2027.
Edited by Juhi Marzia
