DeGeneres to Be Host of Primetime Emmys

Hoping to reverse the slide in ratings for the Primetime Emmy Awards show, CBS said Friday that it had tapped comedian Ellen DeGeneres to be the host of this year’s telecast.

“You know me,” DeGeneres said in a statement, “any excuse to put on a dress.”

The Viacom Inc. network will air the 57th annual Primetime Emmy Awards program Sept. 18 from the Shrine Auditorium. The program – which has lost its luster in recent years – has long served as the unofficial kickoff of the fall TV season.

Last year’s event, broadcast by Walt Disney Co.’s ABC network and hosted by comedian Garry Shandling, was the lowest-rated Emmy telecast in 14 years, attracting an average of 14 million viewers. The 2003 show, on Fox Broadcasting, was also a disappointment, drawing fewer than 18 million viewers and negative reviews for its unconventional tag team of 11 comedians sharing emcee duties.

The Big Four networks – ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC – rotate the broadcast.

Emmy telecast producers and CBS executives are betting that DeGeneres will prove popular, particularly among women who typically watch Hollywood award shows. They point to the success of DeGeneres’ syndicated daytime talk show and knack for ad-libs.

Industry executives also are hoping that the success of broadcast network programs, including ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” and “Lost,” will spark interest in the Emmys. In recent years, HBO shows and movies have hauled in the statuettes, leading some to speculate that viewers who don’t subscribe to premium cable had little incentive to watch the Emmys.

DeGeneres last hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards on CBS in November 2001. The show was postponed that year because of the 9/11 attacks.