Facing budget crunches, falling ratings, and issues with NBC’s Sunday Night football, there still may not be a televised Emmy Awards this year. Though a September 18 airdate has been finite for a while, no distributor has been found. Not that The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences isn’t trying. After the last eight-year contract ended after the 2010 Emmys aired in August, the group has been going through the motions of trying to get a new contract signed. However, with a $7.5 million license fee, even the big fish aren’t biting.
You would think this would just be an issue of money—but honestly, that’s only the last step on a fog-filled path. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the networks want to shorten the show, which would mean the writer and director categories would likely be the first to suffer. Moving certain categories to the cable-aired Creative Arts Emmys would also go against contracts The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has with the Writers Guild of America and the Director’s Guild of America.
The Academy is vociferously stating this isn’t the case, and indeed, other issues could be the culprit. In the years since NBC has begun its Sunday Night Football program, the Emmys have continually ranked number 2 for the evening. This means there is less of an incentive for a network to pick up the show. In years past, the dates have sometimes fallen before football season has begun, but the relative instability might be a reason the networks are currently shying away from a contract.
Nominations are expected to be announced on July 14, and its likely a solution will come to the forefront by then. This might make a ton of work in a short period of time for whichever network bites the bullet, but I don’t think anyone wants the Emmys to disappear for a whole year. If that were to happen, networks would have even more trouble grabbing the ratings they want in the future. Stay tuned to Cinema Blend for coverage on what the networks decide.
