On March 19, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced that the 47th annual Daytime Emmy Award ceremony has been canceled. The ceremony was set to take place in June in Pasadena, California. “Given our concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, we have decided that we will not be staging the 47th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards in Pasadena this coming June,†said NATAS chairman Terry O’Reilly. “As there are so many unknowns right now with the flow of information changing on a daily, almost hourly, basis, it would simply be irresponsible to move forward with our annual celebration of excellence in daytime television at this time.â€
As far as giving out actual awards, things are proceeding as normal. â€Judging continues, and we look forward to announcing our incredibly talented nominees later this spring,†said Daytime Emmy Awards executive director Brent Stanton. “We are working on some interesting alternative ideas for how to best recognize the honorees later this year and will share more details in the weeks ahead.â€
The Daytime Emmy Awards are not the only ceremony that had to make a tough decision today in regard to the coronavirus pandemic. On March 19, the Cannes Film Festival announced that it would be pushing its famous event from late May to the end of June or the beginning of July. In regard to canceling the Daytime Emmys ceremony, NATAS president and CEO Adam Sharp said, “These were extremely difficult decisions to make, but at the end of the day the health and safety of our event attendees and staff must remain our paramount concern.†Sharp added, “We are closely monitoring public-health authorities’ guidance, seeking feedback from our awards communities, and evaluating the flexibility of our venue and production partners as we plan for the future in this unprecedented context.â€