WGA, SAG-AFTRA strike fallout: Emmy awards likely to be delayed

Los Angeles: The Primetime Emmy awards are likely to be postponed due to the ongoing dual strikes called by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA in the US.

According to Variety, vendors had been told the awards would no longer be happening on September 18 as planned.

The Television Academy and cable network Fox, which will broadcast the 75th edition of the award ceremony that reward the best of talent from television and streaming space, are yet to officially announce the changes.

It will be for the first time in two decades that Emmys have been pushed from their planned date. In 2001, the ceremony was delayed two months in the wake of the September 9 terror attacks.

In 2020, the awards were held in a hybrid format due to the coronavirus pandemic with Jimmy Kimmel hosting the ceremony from LA's Staples Center, while all the nominees joined from their homes and other locations.

Roughly 65,000 actors — the vast majority of whom make less than USD 27,000 a year from their screen work — along with 11,500 screenwriters, are on strike, called by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (SAG-AFTRA).

The joint strike, the first since 1980, was called after the WGA and SAG-AFTRA failed to reach a consensus for a new contract with the studios and streaming services, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

Members of the WGA were the first to start their strike in early May, demanding better wages, higher minimum pay, more writers per show, and shorter exclusive contracts among other things. The members of SAG-AFTRA joined them earlier this month.