Jimmy Kimmel to host the 2017 Oscars

  • 06/12/2016
Jimmy Kimmel with President Obama (AAP)
Jimmy Kimmel with President Obama (AAP)

TV host Jimmy Kimmel will host the Oscars in February 2017, according entertainment industry papers Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.

It will be the first time the Jimmy Kimmel Live star fronts the Academy Awards, Hollywood's biggest night of the year.

This year's Oscars ceremony was hosted by actor Chris Rock and was marked by a conspicuous lack of diversity - known online as #OscarsSoWhite - which Rock called out several times.

The Academy later announced plans to diversify its membership, inviting more women and people of colour as voters. As expected, this year's pool of potential nominees is already looking more diverse than last year's, although the appointment of yet another white man as host has been noted online.

Jimmy Kimmel Live is broadcast on ABC in the US and the host's appointment comes after the network signed a new deal with the Academy this year that gave them more creative input.

Kimmel has hosted the Emmys twice - in 2012 and this year.

In September, ABC Television Group chief Ben Sherwood stated: "We thought Jimmy elevated the Emmys. We thought Jimmy has earned it, and we’re very hopeful that Jimmy will get [the Oscar hosting gig]."

The 89th Academy Awards will be broadcast in the US on February 26 2017 (February 27 in New Zealand).

Newshub.