The hilarious / saddest part is, this isn't a step in the right direction even if your goal is "we have to save the award ceremony as a commercial product".
The INEVITABLE end game, the only real solution, is separating the Oscar broadcast from linear TV. The sooner they do this, the better, the more interest they can hope to attract from film fans around the world, of all ages.
Linear TV will be the death of the Oscars, unless they cut away cleanly. Bringing the awards online, either through a streaming service, or preferrably, an open, non-subscription based platform, through the web, social media, and so on, will open up the awards to audience groups who can't even see the awards if they want to today.
You can present it in many ways. A full live show, sure, but also piecemeal, spread through many channels. The interest in film is not on the wane, but the interest in long linear TV broadcasts with commercial breaks IS. Get the show out where the film fans consume and interact content.