Emmy Awards War: Should New Media Programming be Honored?

Every other day seems to bring news of closer integration between old media like TV and the web, and how audiences don’t discern the differences between watching a show via cable, broadcast or broadband. These distinctions clearly matter a great deal to the two separate organizations behind the Emmy awards. The WSJ reports that the LA-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, which governs the Emmy awards’ primetime category, is battling its east coast counterpart, the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The NY group oversees Emmys for news, sports, daytime TV and local broadcasts.
At issue: who gets to decide the honors for a medium that doesn’t fit those boundaries? West coast ATAS wants to stop the east coast NATAS from awarding Emmys to episodes that run as standalone online and cellphone videos.
According to WSJ, the rift started soon after the two agreed to collaborate on “broadband Emmys.” But after a webisode for Fox’s 24 was nominated by the LA group, the NY faction argued that the internet has no dayparts

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