Movie fans won’t have to wait quite as long to watch the Oscars next year.
ABC and Oscar organizer the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Thursday that they are moving up the start time for the 2024 Oscar ceremony on Sunday, March 10 by one hour, meaning it will get underway at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT and run to 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT.
ABC, which has begun to use the Oscars as a lead-out to showcase its top programming, will follow its coverage of the live ceremony with an original episode of Abbott Elementary. The earlier start time will likely bring more eyeballs to Abbott that what ABC could get for previous post-Oscar programs, most recently American Idol earlier this year.
Jimmy Kimmel is returning to host the 96th ceremony at the Dolby Theater, the fourth time he has fronted the show, which has aired on ABC since 1976.
ABC’s time tweak also means that its annual pre-show will now run for 30 minutes (instead of the usual 90), airing at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT). As usual, the main Oscar telecast will be rebroadcast in the Pacific Time zone in primetime after the live presentation.
Nominations for this year’s Oscars are set for January 23. Shortlists in eight categories will be revealed December 21.
Raj Kapoor will serve as showrunner and executive producer of the 96th Oscars, with Molly McNearney and Katy Mullan executive producers. Hamish Hamilton is directing.
Nellie Andreeva contributed to this report