As an aftermath of the Hollywood writers’ strike, there is a possibility that further aftereffects such as the postponement of the Emmy Awards are imminent.
Organizers of the Emmy Awards, scheduled for Sept. 18, are in talks to move the event to a later date if the strikes drag on into the summer, two people familiar with the plans said. If the strike is not over by early August, the televised ceremony could be delayed by several months, pushing it to January, officials said.
No final decision has been made and additional contingency plans may be put in place, the official added.
Television Academy, which runs the Emmy Awards, and Fox, which will broadcast this year’s ceremony, declined to comment.
The most prestigious awards ceremony in the television industry, the Emmy Awards are usually held in August or September. The last time the Emmys were postponed was after the September 11, 2001 attacks. That year the event was held in November.
Voting for Emmy nominations is ongoing, and the nominations will be announced on July 12.
The writers’ strike has entered its eighth week and is far from over. Negotiations with the Writers Guild of America, a union representing major Hollywood studios and writers, broke down in early May. Negotiations have not resumed, and many industry executives are bracing for a strike that will last through the summer and possibly into the fall.
The authors argue that wages have stagnated and working conditions have deteriorated despite the explosion of television production in the streaming era. Shares plummeted last year as entertainment companies resorted to layoffs after Wall Street’s all-cost streaming strategy began to wane.
Since talks with the writers broke down, representatives of the Alliance of Film and Television Producers, who negotiate on behalf of the studios, have been tied up in negotiations with other unions. Earlier this month, studios and the guild representing Hollywood directors reached a tentative agreement on a new deal. The studio is in the middle of negotiations with a union representing tens of thousands of actors.
The postponement of the Emmy Awards will be the latest disruption for Hollywood since the strike began. Since the strike began, production has largely come to a halt, and the writers have set up picket lines outside the production, where scripts have been completed and filming continues. Many of those productions have been postponed or closed.
The Tony Awards seemed to be in jeopardy last month after the Writers Guild threatened to picket the event, which could also cause the show to be postponed or cancelled. Broadway is a highly unionized industry, and crossing the picket line would have been devastating to many in the theater world.
But a group of prominent playwrights argued with the Writers Guild leadership that postponing the Tony Awards would hurt the theater industry more than it would hurt Tony’s broadcaster, CBS. The unions relented, and the June 11 televised ceremony proceeded without a script, including monologue jokes.
But the Emmys are likely to be a bigger target for high-profile writers, who are less likely to get special treatment from the Writers Guild leadership.
Hosting the Emmys is a big job, which is one reason why the Television Academy and Fox will have to make a decision weeks before Sept. 18. Fox has not announced who, if any, will host the show.
