More fallout from the Hollywood writers’ strike could be in the offing: a postponed Emmy Awards.
The organizers of the Emmys, which are scheduled for Sept. 18, are in talks about moving the event to a later date if the strike continues well into the summer, two people familiar with the plans said. If the strike is not over by early August, the televised ceremony could be postponed for months, possibly extending into January, the people said.
No final decisions have been made and it is possible that additional contingency plans could be put in place, the people added.
The Television Academy, which runs the Emmys, and Fox, which broadcasts this year’s ceremony, declined to comment.
The Emmys, the television industry’s most prestigious awards show, usually take place in August or September. The last time the Emmys were pushed back was after the September 11, 2001 attacks; that year the event took place in November.
Emmy nominations are being voted on and the nominees will be announced on July 12.
The writers’ strike, entering its eighth week, is nowhere near a resolution. Talks between the major Hollywood studios and the Writers Guild of America, the union representing writers, ended in early May. Negotiations have not resumed and many industry executives are bracing for a strike well into the summer and possibly into the fall.
The writers claim their wages have stagnated and their working conditions have deteriorated as television production exploded during the streaming era. Entertainment companies have resorted to layoffs and their share prices have plummeted over the past year after Wall Street began to sour on their investment-at-any-cost streaming strategy.
Since discussions with the writers broke down, representatives of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which negotiates on behalf of the studios, have been engaged in negotiations with other unions. This month, the studios and the guild representing Hollywood directors reached a preliminary agreement on a new contract. The studios are in full negotiation with the union that represents tens of thousands of actors.
An Emmy Awards postponement would be the latest disruption for Hollywood since the strike began. Much of production came to a halt after the strike began, and writers have set up picket lines outside productions where scripts were completed and filming continued. Many of those productions have been delayed or have also been shut down.
Last month, the Tony Awards appeared to be in jeopardy after the writers’ union threatened to snatch the event, which could have led to the show’s postponement or cancellation. Broadway is a highly unionized industry, and the prospect of crossing a picket line would have been unfathomable to many in the theater world.
However, a group of leading playwrights argued to the Writers Guild leadership that a postponement of the Tony Awards would hurt the theater industry more than CBS, the broadcaster of the Tonys. The union relented and the televised ceremony continued on June 11 with no scripted material, including monologue gags.
However, the Emmys would be a bigger target for the striking writers and are unlikely to get any special dispensation from the Writers Guild leadership.
Hosting the Emmys is a major undertaking, which is one of the reasons the Television Academy and Fox will likely have to come to a decision weeks before Sept. 18. Fox has not announced who, if anyone, will be hosting the show.
