Daytime Emmys to Air Live on HLN!

The Emmys have found a home on cable! The HLN network has finalized a deal to air the 39th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards live on June 23.

Time to pick out your best daytime stars! Variety reports that Marc Lucas will direct the ceremony, produced by LocoDistro. Malachy Wienges, Chairman of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences says in a statement, “NATAS is very excited to announce that the 2012 Daytime Entertainment Emmy Awards will be broadcast live on HLN on Saturday, June 23, from the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Working with the show’s producer, Gabriel Gornell of LocoDistro, we are preparing a new, fresh, creative show that will honor all the genres that make daytime television a part of our daily lives.”

With no network to air the ceremony, there was speculation the Emmys would air online. Jim Romanovich of Associated Television International discussed the collapse of the deal with CBS to TV Guide in March. “CBS wanted the show, but at the last minute, the deal fell through. Money-wise, it was just too prohibitive, and that’s a shame because this year is the last chance to honor [canceled soaps] All My Children and One Life to Live.”

Wienges says the decision to part ways with former producers Associated Television International was a result of “unhappiness” within the daytime community regarding the two previous events. ATI produced the Emmys on The CW in 2009 and on CBS in 2010 and 2011.

It wasn’t just fans who had issues with the many product placements and “infomercial” like segments. The Young and the Restless star Peter Bergman (Jack) didn’t mince words when talking about the ceremony to TV Guide. “It was a vulgar Vegas nightmare. The awards need to return to what they were years ago, a private, elegant event.”

Wienges tells Variey, “After the last show, the daytime community approached NATAS and said that if we have to do the show in 2012 the exact same as in 2010 and 2011, we would rather have an untelevised event and just have a sit-down dinner and honor ourselves in Beverly Hills.”

LocoDistro’s chief creative officer Gabriel Cornell says “This has to be as much a tribute to daytime television as an awards show. While we pay tribute to television, it’s the awards that are going to get us there. This show is probably going to have more awards than previous years and is probably going to have fewer song-and-dance numbers than previous years.”

HLN and parent company Turner are developing numerous promos to help draw attention to the event.

My Take: This is fantastic news! The Daytime Emmys are just as important as any other awards show, and I for one am glad the ceremony will be aired. ATI did a wonderful job given the current state of daytime. Kudos to them and CBS for stepping up to the plate the last few years and putting on a show when no other network (looking at you NBC and ABC) would. Hopefully ads are run on HLN’s sister stations TNT, TBS and CNN to promote the event. A big audience means nothing but good things for the Emmys (and by association, HLN).