|
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hosts
Hollywood's biggest night each year, declined to say why Zadan
and Meron were not invited back.
Their departure comes after the television audience for the 2015
show dropped 16 percent from the previous year and first-time
host Neil Patrick Harris received lukewarm reviews.
But Zadan and Meron also produced seminal Oscar moments, such as
the 2014 show hosted by comedian Ellen DeGeneres which produced
the highest telecast ratings in 14 years for Walt Disney Co's
ABC network and the star-studded selfie that brought Twitter
down.
For their first year, they invited "Family Guy" creator and
comedian Seth MacFarlane to host and came under heavy fire for
his provocative humor. But they defended the choice because it
brought in the most fickle audience, young males.
Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy, said Zadan and
Meron have "have been wonderful creative partners over the last
three years, contributing some of the most innovative and
memorable Oscar moments."
Best known for their work on musicals for Broadway, television
and film, the veteran producers recently staged the live musical
telecast of "Peter Pan" for NBC.
"Ending 3 year deal producing #Oscars, its an honor to say 'We'd
like to thank The Academy,'" Meron tweeted.
(Reporting by Mary Milliken; Editing by Piya Sinha-Roy, Bernard
Orr)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
