The 2020 Daytime Emmys, Sports Emmys, News & Documentary Emmys and Technology & Engineering Emmys will be replaced by virtual ceremonies, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced on Wednesday.
The Technology & Engineering ceremony had originally been scheduled for April 19 in Las Vegas, and had been postponed until October due to restrictions to combat the coronavirus; the Sports Emmys had been scheduled for April 28 in New York but postponed to fall; the Daytime Emmys had been scheduled for June 12-14 in Pasadena but postponed to fall; and the News & Documentary Emmys had been scheduled for September in New York.
“While it appears unlikely that officials would even permit these large-crowd events to be held this year, it is also clear that there will be a lag of time between being permitted to have an event and being able to provide an environment in which all attendees feel safe and comfortable attending it,” NATAS President & CEO Adam Sharp said in a statement. “Ultimately, a single person-to-person transmission resulting in serious infection would be devastating evidence of mistaken judgment in proceeding.”
NATAS said the new virtual ceremonies would be remote video productions “leveraging multiple remote video technologies to involve nominees and presenters.” They will be available on all leading “Smart TV” platforms and other distribution partners.
Dates and times for the new productions have yet to be determined.
The announcement does not affect the Primetime Emmy Awards or Primetime Creative Arts Emmys, which are produced by NATAS’ sister organization, the Television Academy. Those ceremonies remain scheduled for September.