And the Oscar host is ... Chris Rock, for an edge

Thanks to the pop culture sensibilities of its 70-year-old producer, the Academy Awards is turning hipper, as comedian Chris Rock was named Thursday as the host of next year’s Oscars.

In selecting Rock as the master of ceremonies for the 77th annual awards show, producer Gil Cates continued a push by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to make the Oscars more relevant to the young male viewers who have been tuning out the ceremonies.

The often-profane Rock, 39, replaces veteran comedian Billy Crystal, who hosted this year’s broadcast and has served in that capacity for seven other Academy Awards shows. Other recent hosts include Steve Martin, Whoopi Goldberg and David Letterman.

“When you look at the new young comics, Chris Rock is at the top of the list,” Cates said. “He’s got the experience for it, and he’s very, very funny. And he knows how to work a room.”

Although this year’s Oscars enjoyed the best ratings in four years, with 43.5 million viewers, Crystal’s jokes included references to people such as Sammy Davis Jr. and Ed Sullivan alumnus Senor Wences, names that might be wholly extraneous to Chris Rock fans.

Bruce Davis, the academy’s executive director, says that when Cates brought up Rock’s name in a recent meeting with Davis and academy president Frank Pierson, the two were “intrigued” by the idea.

Davis admitted that Rock’s frank brand of social commentary might be a bit dangerous for a staid awards show, but that same provocative humor was also part of the attraction.

Although the producers of other live events such as the Super Bowl are moving away from risky choices, Davis said the academy wants to embrace a performer with “edge.”

“That was absolutely part of the discussion,” Davis said. “I think he may bring the young male audience that is usually hard to attract.”

Cates said it has not determined whether next year’s broadcast will implement the five-second delay used in this year Oscars telecast, instituted after the Janet Jackson-Super Bowl incident.

Rock, who hosted MTV’s Video Music Awards last year and has starred in successful comedy specials on HBO, has had limited success as an actor. His credits include “Pootie Tang,” “Down to Earth” and “Head of State.” Upcoming film roles include “The Longest Yard” and “Madagascar.”

Cates, who is producing the show for the 12th time, said that like Crystal, Rock is a good improviser, having been exposed to all sorts of “drunks and abusive crowds” in his long stand-up career. The audience for the Oscars, which ABC will broadcast on Feb. 27, should be a bit more forgiving.