Academy Awards promise a leaner show, and a new Oscar category for popular movies

Remember when Chris Rock Oscars hosted the Oscars in 2016 and he quizzed people on the street as to whether or not they'd seen the Academy Award-nominated movies from that year?

And it turned out that many people hadn't even heard of the movies in question, let alone seen them. Well, that may soon change.

Perhaps as a reaction to last year's ratings for the 90th annual Academy Awards, which were the lowest ever, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences tweeted Wednesday that a new category is "being designed around achievement in popular film." A representative for the Academy confirmed to "Good Morning America" that the new category will be implemented in time for next year's ceremony, which is scheduled for Feb. 24.

What's more, the ceremony's 2020 show will air even earlier in the year on Feb. 9.

The most welcome piece of news, though, is that the Academy says it will take steps to battle the show's tendency to run long -- way too long, in many cases -- and create a "more globally accessible, three-hour telecast."