The 2019 Emmy Awards Won’t Have a Host & Here’s Why

The Television Academy is taking a page out of the Oscars’ handbook and moving forward with the 2019 Emmy Awards sans host.

That’s right, Fox just confirmed that there will be no lead for the 71st annual ceremony, which will take place on September 22. Charlie Collier—CEO of Fox Entertainment—announced the news during a recent press conference and revealed that naming a host takes away from other aspects of the awards show.

“Our job is to assess as to how to elevate the program in the year that we have it,” he said, according to Deadline. “If you have a host and an opening, that’s 15 or 20 minutes you can’t have to salute the shows.”

This won’t be the first time the Emmy Awards had no host—the show also went host-less in 2003, 1998 and 1975. So, why the sudden change?

Collier admitted that their decision will give the Television Academy a chance to focus on outgoing TV shows—like Game of Thrones, Veep and The Big Bang Theory. “We will go host-less to have more time to honor those shows,” he added. “This is a pretty unique year for some of America’s favorite shows going away.”

The news comes just a few months after the Oscars had no host. When asked if the Academy Awards played a role in their decision, Collier confirmed that it didn’t go unnoticed.

“I think that certainly it was something that we paid attention to,” he said.

So, are host-less awards shows a new trend? We’ll let the ratings handle this one.