11-10-2008, 01:15 PM
Award Show Crisis: Are the Daytime Emmys dead?
Don’t count out the 2009 Emmys just yet, says NATAS
How many nails does it take to bury the proverbial soap coffin? That’s the question many pundits and fans are asking after CBS announced it would not air the 2009 Daytime Emmy Awards. The news comes as no surprise to TVGuide.ca. This past year, a high-ranking CBS executive told The Suds Report she doubted her network would air the awards during their ’09 rotation.
Making matters worse is the fact that ABC Daytime publicist Jori Petersen informed TV Guide that ABC and SOAPnet have declined to air the awards next year as well. Peterson tells The Suds Report that timing was a factor, but adds that the alphabet network may still air the 2010 Emmys as scheduled. “As 2009 was scheduled to be CBS's year to host the Daytime Emmys, ABC had not anticipated nor planned on doing the awards show. At this time, neither ABC nor SOAPnet has plans to broadcast the event,” the rep states.
Meanwhile, The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences is now offering the show to other networks and cable channels.
Regardless of the challenges ahead, according to NATAS, the show will go on. “Rumours of our demise are premature,” Peter Price tells theenvelope.com’s Tom O’Neil. “We’re currently in active negotiations with two broadcast networks and two cable channels. I expect to make an announcement of final plans in about a month. The only thing up in the air is where the ceremony will be held. It’ll be back in New York next year, but we don’t know if we’re going to Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden or another venue.”
A disbelieving O’Neil puts the whole mess into perspective for The Suds Report: “I don't believe any network has turned down airing next June’s Emmycast because ‘it’s too late’ to plan the show now. That’s nonsense. If ABC or CBS won’t telecast the ceremony, it’s because they can’t make money. Last year ABC drew 5.39 million viewers, which wasn’t bad, but the demo they attracted wasn’t ad-friendly. The alphabet web drew the lowest percentage of the hipper 18- to 49-year-olds who advertisers want to reach.”
Soap Opera Digest and Soap Opera Weekly Editorial Director Lynn Leahey, who produced the now-defunct Soap Opera Digest Awards on NBC for decades, blames the new economic realities as one of the many reasons CBS probably declined to air the Emmys.
“Airing them online could be an option,” she suggests. “If the show wasn’t live, the costs would decrease significantly. We need to change the format; we shouldn’t be copying the Academy Awards.” Leahey goes on to suggest that the live press conference format the Golden Globe Awards employed earlier this year due to the writers’ strike could be an easy, cost-saving measure for SOAPnet and other networks to consider.
“Do we really need a red carpet,” Leahey asks. “What fans really want to see are the clip packages and the speeches, which should be easy to arrange as long as the glitz-and-glamour machine isn’t attached. Stars could gather at their studios to accept their award, for example. The fact is the Emmys, as we know them, are a thing of the past, so we need to come up with a new solution. We’d even offer soapoperadigest.com to help announce the winners, and/or show clips submitted and acceptance speeches.”
Awards show fans and pundits seem to have shifted their anger from CBS to ABC. They are upset “soap” network SOAPnet passed on airing the Emmy Awards. A veteran Emmy winner tells The Suds Report, “What’s the point of having a soap network if they can’t save the Emmys. Surely, the Emmys would outperform their movie-of-the-week starring Tori Spelling. The Emmys did draw five-plus million viewers this year; that’s way more viewers than SOAPnet is currently attracting.”
O’Neil reminds soap fans that just because the Emmys may not be broadcast doesn’t mean it’s the end of the awards show system. “The show will go on even without a broadcast,” he points out. “They’ll continue to be financed by selling orchestra seats at $300 a pop; plus entrance fees for nominations; and the actual sale of Emmy statuettes to winners. At the prime-time Emmys, all winners get a trophy, but only one winner per category gets one at the day of the Emmys. Others have the right to buy the statuettes, which have a slight mark-up profit to NATAS.”
Oh, how times have changed. O’Neil recalls, “What's happened to the Daytime Emmys is shocking considering what a spectacular success they used to be. Back in 1991 when the Daytime Emmys dawned on TV at night, viewership actually surpassed the prime-time Emmycast! In 1992, it came in No. 1 for the week, even beating 60 Minutes. It was common for the show to get 15 or 16 ratings with 27 per cent shares back in those days. But now the show is fighting the same struggle to survive that's besetting soaps themselves.”
The Suds Report would like to offer our living room to NATAS free of charge if things don’t work out according to plan. However, it will more than likely be a BYOB event.
Don’t count out the 2009 Emmys just yet, says NATAS
How many nails does it take to bury the proverbial soap coffin? That’s the question many pundits and fans are asking after CBS announced it would not air the 2009 Daytime Emmy Awards. The news comes as no surprise to TVGuide.ca. This past year, a high-ranking CBS executive told The Suds Report she doubted her network would air the awards during their ’09 rotation.
Making matters worse is the fact that ABC Daytime publicist Jori Petersen informed TV Guide that ABC and SOAPnet have declined to air the awards next year as well. Peterson tells The Suds Report that timing was a factor, but adds that the alphabet network may still air the 2010 Emmys as scheduled. “As 2009 was scheduled to be CBS's year to host the Daytime Emmys, ABC had not anticipated nor planned on doing the awards show. At this time, neither ABC nor SOAPnet has plans to broadcast the event,” the rep states.
Meanwhile, The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences is now offering the show to other networks and cable channels.
Regardless of the challenges ahead, according to NATAS, the show will go on. “Rumours of our demise are premature,” Peter Price tells theenvelope.com’s Tom O’Neil. “We’re currently in active negotiations with two broadcast networks and two cable channels. I expect to make an announcement of final plans in about a month. The only thing up in the air is where the ceremony will be held. It’ll be back in New York next year, but we don’t know if we’re going to Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden or another venue.”
A disbelieving O’Neil puts the whole mess into perspective for The Suds Report: “I don't believe any network has turned down airing next June’s Emmycast because ‘it’s too late’ to plan the show now. That’s nonsense. If ABC or CBS won’t telecast the ceremony, it’s because they can’t make money. Last year ABC drew 5.39 million viewers, which wasn’t bad, but the demo they attracted wasn’t ad-friendly. The alphabet web drew the lowest percentage of the hipper 18- to 49-year-olds who advertisers want to reach.”
Soap Opera Digest and Soap Opera Weekly Editorial Director Lynn Leahey, who produced the now-defunct Soap Opera Digest Awards on NBC for decades, blames the new economic realities as one of the many reasons CBS probably declined to air the Emmys.
“Airing them online could be an option,” she suggests. “If the show wasn’t live, the costs would decrease significantly. We need to change the format; we shouldn’t be copying the Academy Awards.” Leahey goes on to suggest that the live press conference format the Golden Globe Awards employed earlier this year due to the writers’ strike could be an easy, cost-saving measure for SOAPnet and other networks to consider.
“Do we really need a red carpet,” Leahey asks. “What fans really want to see are the clip packages and the speeches, which should be easy to arrange as long as the glitz-and-glamour machine isn’t attached. Stars could gather at their studios to accept their award, for example. The fact is the Emmys, as we know them, are a thing of the past, so we need to come up with a new solution. We’d even offer soapoperadigest.com to help announce the winners, and/or show clips submitted and acceptance speeches.”
Awards show fans and pundits seem to have shifted their anger from CBS to ABC. They are upset “soap” network SOAPnet passed on airing the Emmy Awards. A veteran Emmy winner tells The Suds Report, “What’s the point of having a soap network if they can’t save the Emmys. Surely, the Emmys would outperform their movie-of-the-week starring Tori Spelling. The Emmys did draw five-plus million viewers this year; that’s way more viewers than SOAPnet is currently attracting.”
O’Neil reminds soap fans that just because the Emmys may not be broadcast doesn’t mean it’s the end of the awards show system. “The show will go on even without a broadcast,” he points out. “They’ll continue to be financed by selling orchestra seats at $300 a pop; plus entrance fees for nominations; and the actual sale of Emmy statuettes to winners. At the prime-time Emmys, all winners get a trophy, but only one winner per category gets one at the day of the Emmys. Others have the right to buy the statuettes, which have a slight mark-up profit to NATAS.”
Oh, how times have changed. O’Neil recalls, “What's happened to the Daytime Emmys is shocking considering what a spectacular success they used to be. Back in 1991 when the Daytime Emmys dawned on TV at night, viewership actually surpassed the prime-time Emmycast! In 1992, it came in No. 1 for the week, even beating 60 Minutes. It was common for the show to get 15 or 16 ratings with 27 per cent shares back in those days. But now the show is fighting the same struggle to survive that's besetting soaps themselves.”
The Suds Report would like to offer our living room to NATAS free of charge if things don’t work out according to plan. However, it will more than likely be a BYOB event.