TV Academy Pushes Emmys FYC Calendar in Response to Coronavirus Pandemic
Due to the novel coronavirus pandemic having brought TV production to a near standstill and upending campaign plans, the Television Academy announced changes Friday to the awards-season calendar for the Primetime Emmys. The new schedule shifts deadlines back roughly 1-3 weeks and condense the voting periods.
The deadline for submissions moved to June 5 from May 11. The first-round voting period will now take place July 2-13, back from June 15-29; nominations will be announced July 28 rather than July 14. Round two of voting will take place Aug. 21-31 instead of Aug. 17-31, as originally planned.
The Academy did not make any changes to the date of the Primetime Emmy Awards telecast, which is still scheduled to take place Sept. 20, or the Creative Arts Emmy ceremony, still slated for Sept. 12 and 13. The cutoff for Emmy eligibility likewise remains May 31, the date by which a series must premiere to be considered for this year’s Emmys. But the Academy has added a bit of flexibility. For series, so-called “hanging episodes” — episodes that debut after the May 31 deadline — must air by June 30 to be considered this year. In the limited series category, the show must premiere by May 31, and all episodes must air by June 30 for the limited series to be eligible this year. If any episode debuts after June 30, the limited series will move into eligibility for next year’s Emmys.
The changes in the calendar shorten the voting periods by five days in phase one and four days in phase two, and follow calls this week between Academy officials and execs at the major networks, studios and streamers, in which the latter group pushed for a plan to move the calendar later in the year. The hope is that pushing deeper into late spring and summer will allow awards marketers the opportunity to more effectively campaign, as concerns related to the coronavirus outbreak have effectively ended the ability to put on the live events that are the staples of awards season.
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