Emmys Delaying Annual Awards Indefinitely Due to Strikes

The 75th Primetime Emmy Awards has informed various vendors that the ceremony will not air as planned on September 18th. Making this the first official confirmation that the award show’s air date is being pushed back.

This isn’t surprising given the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes affecting most events of this nature. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and host network Fox have been keeping the planned air date as a placeholder. But with the show less than two months away, it’s time to start telling vendors, producers, etc. that the telecast will be delayed. We’ll probably see the same situation with the Creative Arts Emmys that are set to air on September 9th and 10th.

Even though pushing the air date back makes sense, this is still an incredibly rare occurrence. The last time the Emmys were delayed was over 20 years ago in 2001. The events of 9/11 and the initial military action in Afghanistan pushed it back to November. The event that year was also significantly toned down and held in a smaller venue. While there is no confirmation that is going to happen this time around. Due to how many actors and writers are sitting out events, it wouldn’t be surprising if it was more subdued.

There have been rumblings that Fox plans to air the Emmys sometime in January of 2024, but the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences seemingly wants something in November. Absolutely nothing about a new air date has been confirmed. Though an announcement about a new date is expected sometime in early August.

Moving the Emmys to January would put them smackdab in the middle of film awards season. There are also guild award programs that honor shows under a different eligibility time frame than the Emmys. But a November air date is also complicated given the WGA and SAG strikes seemingly having no resolution in sight. So there is a very real possibility that the awards could set a November air date, only to have to postpone again due to labor strikes.

“Like the rest of the industry, we hope there will be an equitable and timely resolution for all parties in the current guild negotiations,” the TV Academy said in a statement last week. “We continue to monitor the situation closely with our partners at Fox and will advise if and when there is an update available.”

At this point, the only things that seem set in stone are the voting schedule and nominations. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has already confirmed that its Phase 2 calendar will stay intact. This means that the final-round voting for the Emmys will happen between August 17th and 28th. So any campaigning will have to be done sans nominated actors or writers. Since both WGA and SAG guidelines prohibit them from promoting during an ongoing strike. And since writers are also barred from working, there would be no one to write the monologues and jokes for the Emmy host(s).

Emmy nominations were announced July 12th, less than 48 hours before the SAG-AFTRA strike began. Which, paired with the WGA strike basically killed any production or promotion in the industry. We’ll keep you posted on updates about the Emmys as they become available.