Spanish-language programs will take on greater prominence at the Daytime Emmys through the introduction of new categories announced Tuesday.
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences also said that the Sports Emmys and News & Documentary Emmys would also be adding awards honoring Spanish-language media.
“The growth of Spanish-language media over the last 50 years has been very closely followed by our organization,” NATAS chairman Malachy Wienges said. “American television is changing at a rapid pace, driven by the growth of multicultural audiences who often speak more than one language. The Spanish-language media continues to grow exponentially each year, and NATAS believes it is long-overdue that we recognize its excellence in our industry.”
Entries for the new categories will not need to provide subtitles and will be judged by a panel of Spanish-language media professionals who are bilingual or Spanish proficient.
A task force, led by national awards committee co-chair Linda Giannecchini and Univision marketing veep Chiqui Cartagena, spearheaded the creation of the new categories.
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“The Spanish-language community will welcome this acknowledgment with open arms,” Giannecchini said. “With our 19 regional chapters seeing more than 800 Spanish-language entries in 2013 alone, the time is upon us to bring this powerful media community the true recognition that the National Emmy Awards confers.”
In the Daytime Emmys, the three new categories are outstanding morning program in Spanish, entertainment program in Spanish and daytime talent in a Spanish-language program.
For the Sports Emmys, there will also be three new competitions: sports coverage in Spanish, studio show in Spanish and on-air sports talent in Spanish.
And in the News and Doc Emmys, the three new categories are newscast or news magazine in Spanish, coverage of a breaking-news story in Spanish and investigative journalism in Spanish.
“We drew together very passionate members from throughout the Spanish-language community of media companies and talent agencies to come up with recommendations to reflect what we call the new American reality,” said Cartagena.
