Veteran TV exec, producer and entrepreneur Cris Abrego can add another line to his growing list of titles: Chairman of the Television Academy. Abrego was elected to the post on Thursday night by the organization’s board of governors, as the TV Academy also firmed up its roster of officers and governors for the board’s 2024-25 term.
GLAAD, the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer media advocacy organization, will be honored with the 2023 Governors Award, the Television Academy announced today. The organization will be recognized for its work over nearly four decades to secure fair, accurate and diverse representation of the LGBTQ community in the media and entertainment industries and to advocate for LGBTQ equality. GLAAD’s president and CEO, Sarah Kate Ellis, will accept the award during the Jan. 15 Emmy Awards telecast on Fox.
Less than three months ahead of the planned Sept. 18 ceremony and live telecast, sources say that organizers are actively discussing multiple contingency plans — including delaying the event altogether — if the town’s labor strife hasn’t been resolved later this summer.
The six Hall of Fame honorees are Debbie Allen, the six-time Emmy-winning director/choreographer; Ken Burns, the 16-time Emmy winner and documentarian; Bob Daly, the former chairman of Warner Bros; Robert L. Johnson, the founder of BET; Rita Moreno, actress and EGOT winner; and Donald A. Morgan, an 11-time Emmy winner and director of photography and lighting design.
Game shows, previously awarded in the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Emmy competition, will now be part of the Primetime Emmys beginning in 2023, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and NATAS announced on Wednesday. The news comes on the heels of both organizations announcing a major realignment in December, shifting to genre-based awards rather than time-based awards as part of an effort to ensure the competitions’ continued relevance.
Exclusives
Beginning next year, only episodes that premiere on a platform available to a national audience by May 31 will be eligible.
TV Academy CEO Explains Emmy Rule Changes
A year into his tenure as Television Academy CEO, Frank Scherma held big plans for 2020. And then, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Months later, the Academy has jump-started the recruitment process for a diversity leader, and that membership drive is ready to go once it’s safe to do so. But Scherma is mostly concerned right now with making sure this year’s Emmys go off without a hitch, wrapping up the most unusual awards season ever.
Hayma Washington says he decided against seeking a second two-year term so he could focus on his work as a producer and promote diversity. Washington also has served as chief executive officer of the academy, which administers the Emmy Awards.
As the announcement of the 2018 Emmy Award nominations loom next week, the Television Academy is finalizing an eight-year deal with the Big Four networks for rights to the annual Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony. The big hurdle that remains is not financial but the insistence by ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox that they gain more flexibility with the three-hour telecast, and that likely means shifting some of lower-profile awards out of the live ceremony.
Whoever said the seasons don’t change in L.A. couldn’t be more wrong. There are in fact two: Oscar season and Emmy season. The Emmys show may still be more than four months away, but with nominations in July (online voting starts June 15), campaigning is already at a fever pitch, with screeners flooding the mail and “For Your Consideration” panels assembling nightly. This year is shaping up to be one of the most intense, kicked off by the TV Academy’s expansive rule changes, announced in February.
The Television Academy has tapped DreamWorks Animation alum Susan Spencer to oversee marketing and PR as the group prepares for a burst of activity surrounding the construction of a media center on its North Hollywood campus, among other initiatives. As SVP of media and brand management, Spencer will be tasked with burnishing the TV Academy’s image as it counts down to its 70th anniversary.
What’s Ahead For The TV Academy
Warner Bros Television Group president Bruce Rosenblum is in the midst of his first Emmy campaign as chairman of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, a post he took over in January that makes him the first top Hollywood player in two decades to lead the organization. He talks about what he’s looking to change.
