The Emmy migration is official. Both the live telecast of the Primetime Emmy Awards and the pretaped Creative Arts ceremonies are leaving their annual September roost for January, in hopes of some resolution to Hollywood’s ongoing labor strife.
After several months of dialogue between the Television Academy and 2023 (make that 2024) Emmy broadcaster, Fox, the new chosen date for the Emmy Awards is Monday, Jan. 15, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT at the newly renamed Peacock Theater at LA Live. That’s when Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday, falls this coming year. That’ll also mark nearly five months after the last ballot has been cast. Emmy voting, after all, is proceeding as scheduled despite the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes — with the final round beginning Aug. 17 and lasting through Aug. 28.
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Punting the Emmys was an inevitability for a town enduring two strikes. There was a scenario in which a telecast could have been pulled off without writers. The absence of actors, however, made a delay unavoidable. Some called for a less dramatic shift in the calendar, a November option briefly under consideration, but still-empty negotiating tables suggest that a shorter delay would be foolish. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers has only briefly met with the writers once in the 101 days since the strike began. It’s still radio silence between the studios and the actors since the latter’s strike was called July 12.
As for the Creative Arts ceremonies, they’ll take place Saturday, Jan. 6, and Sunday, Jan. 7 — also at LA Live. An edited presentation of those will air the following Saturday at 8 p.m. on FXX.
Aside from the shift for vendors and Fox’s extra night of programming to fill, the delay doesn’t really change much. The same nominees and winners will be feted on the new dates, they’ll just be doing so as strategists are in the throes of the film awards season and already embarking on campaigns for the following Emmys.
It all makes for a very crowded first quarter, provided the strikes are indeed resolved. The Golden Globes, recently acquired by Dick Clark Productions and Eldridge, are still slated to have some awards in January — despite no TV contract to speak of. January is also home to the Critics Choice Awards, currently slated for the 14th. In the run-up to the March 10, 2024 Oscar telecast, all guilds but the WGA and DGA have set dates for their own kudos, with SAG-AFTRA (Feb. 24) and the PGA (Feb. 25) going back-to-back. The producers will hand out honors the same day as the Independent Spirit Awards.
As for the Emmys, Jesse Collins, Dionne Harmon and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay of Jesse Collins Entertainment are all still set to produce. So, unless the gods curse Hollywood with an eight-month shutdown, this will be the final story on date adjustments.
