After the protest from WGA and SAG, The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences altered their decision to deny 8 categories a live telecast.
- Aug 13, 2009
AceShowbiz - 61st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards will go live full this September after CBS and The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences drop the plan for time-shifting. The broadcast will now cover all the 28 awards live instead of having 8 awards, which include miniseries and a couple of writing categories, pre-taped.
The Academy previously based the decision to have only two-third going live on the attempt to crank up some rating after last year's telecast suffered from all-time low. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild (SAG) soon protested on the second-hand treatment to their members, writing a letter signed by several TV showrunners.
In a statement released on August 12, The Academy has retracted the decision, reasoning that their "goal is to celebrate the year in television, honor excellence and this year's great achievements with the support of our industry colleagues and our telecast partner, CBS."
In response, WGA also issued a statement to applaud The Academy's attempt to fix things up. "We appreciate that the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has decided to present all 28 awards live on this year's Primetime Emmy Awards," the statement read. "We look forward to developing a more collaborative relationship between the Writers Guild and the Academy."
Hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, the annual ceremony will be held on September 20 and aired live by CBS starting 8/7c.
