Even award ceremonies are not safe. According to Deadline, the 2023 Emmy Awards ceremony could be delayed due to the ongoing writers’ strike. Right now, voting for the Primetime Emmy Awards is still ongoing and will close on June 26. Then the nominations will be announced on July 12. The ceremony is scheduled for September 18, but now, that is up in the air.
According to Deadline, the Television Academy and Fox, who will be carrying this year’s ceremony, have been discussing alternatives amid the WGA strike which has reached its 52nd day. Contrary to what the public might think, writers do play a key role in the Emmy ceremony and the show also needs a production lead time. So, if there is no resolution to the strike by the end of July or early August, the Emmy ceremony will have to be postponed.
The awards being postponed is looking more likely by the minute. The AMPT is still in negotiations with SAG-AFTRA, with talks looking to continue all the way to the June 30 deadline and maybe beyond if talks are extended. If that is the case, the writers and the studios will continue the negotiations in mid-July at the earliest, so it seems unlikely that a deal will be reached by the beginning of August.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Primetime Emmys, so it seems unlikely that they will not go through with the ceremony that would celebrate the awards’ milestone. The Daytime Emmys are also celebrating an important milestone as their 50th anniversary is this year. Unfortunately, the ceremony, which was supposed to take place last week on CBS, was postponed due to the strike and no new date has been announced which will probably continue to be the case until the strike ends.
If the Primetime Emmys are postponed, which is the likely outcome, the new air date will probably be in November. Sources via Deadline also mention January is also being considered. However, according to Deadline, that seems unlikely due to the six-month gap between the nominations and the award ceremony, and the year and a half from the time that some of the nominated seasons of the series premiered.
The last time the Primetime Emmys were delayed was after the events of 9/11, that year the awards ceremony took place in November.
Unfortunately, there have been rumors that a SAG-AFTRA strike could also occur if a deal is not reached at the end of June. Award show ceremonies would not be directly impacted since award shows are covered by SAG-AFTRA Network Television Code. Still, a strike from the SAG-AFTRA would prevent members from attending the ceremonies and many actors wouldn’t cross a picket line even if their guild is not on strike.
Hopefully, the writers and the studios will reach a fair deal soon, but until then, the strike continues.