Nearly all television productions are shut down right now in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The Television Academy realized this might pose a bit of a problem for the upcoming deadlines to be considered and voted on for The Emmys, the awards show honoring the best in television that airs every fall. In response, they’re making some changes to the submission deadlines and voting schedule, but they’re still hoping to have the 72nd Emmys take place in September.

In an official statement released by The Television Academy, it was announced that the deadline for submissions to qualify for the Emmys has been pushed back nearly an entire month from May 11 to June 5. However, this shift has also allowed for an extension of the Television Academy’s rule about “hanging episodes,” which are episodes slated to air after the qualifying date, but are still eligible for awards as long they air by a certain time. Those episodes have until June 30 to air in order to be considered.

Because of this shift in the eligibility window, the first round of nomination voting has been pushed from June 15 back to July 2 and will take place through July 13. Emmy nominations will then be announced on July 28, two weeks later than initially planned. Voting for the winners will begin on August 21 and end on August 31.

However, the voting process will be missing a traditional component this year out of an abundance of caution in fighting the spread of coronavirus. There will be no campaigning for Emmys allowed this year, at least not through the Television Academy itself. Big campaign events are typically held in Television Academy theaters where there are screenings, Q&A sessions, receptions and more gatherings of large people. The Academy won’t even allow campaigning done with recorded or streaming materials from the Television Academy.

The Wrap points out that the new rules do not ban television creators from hosting their own campaign events for Emmy voters, but considering the careful climate of social interaction right now, not to mention Los Angeles being on lockdown and preventing gatherings of large people, it’s not likely that any network or studio will try to skirt around that issue.

This could be a gamechanger for determining the winners as voters will really have to just rely on actually watching the shows themselves. The campaigning part of awards season is full of so much glad-handing and schmoozing that it might be refreshing for shows to be voted merely on the quality of what’s on screen instead of how good their campaigning is.

As of now Television Academy is still planning to have the awards this fall with the Creative Emmys set for September 12 and September 13 and the big show scheduled for September 20. However, just like everyone else with events planned this summer and beyond, The Television Academy says:

“As national and statewide directives and mandates on the COVID-19 pandemic remain fluid, the Television Academy and broadcast partner ABC will monitor recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the L.A. County Department of Public Health.”

We’re still in a holding pattern when it comes to the future of entertainment and resuming business as usual. It’s not clear if we’ll only have to deal with another month like this or if we’ll be stuck like this even longer. But everyone is hoping for the best, and hopefully our government is smart enough to not jumpstart the economy sooner than would be advisable.

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For those interested, you can read the full statement from the Television Academy below:

The Television Academy today announced changes to be implemented for the 72nd Emmy Awards® season in response to unprecedented challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

These updates include a revised Emmy voting calendar, modification of the hanging episode rule for series and limited series, and suspension of For Your Consideration industry events.

Following discussions with key industry partners, the Television Academy Board of Governors voted to update the Emmy Awards calendar to better accommodate ongoing changes and disruptions in production and programming schedules across all network, cable and streaming services. Key dates in the competition have been pushed back, and voting windows have shortened:

Revised Emmy Awards Calendar:

June 5: Entry deadline
July 2: Nominations-round voting begins
July 13: Nominations-round voting ends
July 28: Nominations announced
August 21: Final-round voting begins
August 31: Final-round voting ends

CLICK HERE for the full Emmy Awards calendar.

NOTE: There are no current plans to cancel or delay the Sept. 20 Emmy telecast or the Sept. 12 and 13 Creative Arts Emmy ceremonies. As national and statewide directives and mandates on the COVID-19 pandemic remain fluid, the Television Academy and broadcast partner ABC will monitor recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the L.A. County Department of Public Health.

Modification of Hanging Episode Rule (Series and Limited Series)

Due to production and programming delays, the Academy has extended the eligibility date for “hanging episodes” to June 30 (formerly May 31).

Series eligibility: To qualify for eligibility in the current eligibility year, the series must have premiered by the end of the eligibility year (May 31, 2020). If the series has one or more episodes that fall into the subsequent eligibility year, those episodes must be broadcast or posted on an accessible platform by June 30 to gain eligibility for the current eligibility year. A minimum of six eligible episodes is still required to qualify for series eligibility.

Limited Series eligibility: To qualify for eligibility in the current eligibility year, the limited series must have premiered by the end of the eligibility year (May 31, 2020). If the limited series has one or more episodes/parts that fall into the subsequent eligibility year, those episodes must be broadcast or posted on an accessible platform by June 30 to gain eligibility for the current eligibility year, provided the complete limited series is made available by the June 30 deadline. If those episodes/parts are not able to be broadcast/posted by June 30, then the complete limited series, along with the individual achievements, will be eligible in the subsequent eligibility year.

For Your Consideration Events
All Television Academy For Your Consideration events — whether with a live audience, streaming or recorded for posting on a viewing platform — have been suspended for this Emmy season.

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