Emmy changes scrapped

THE changes announced in April to streamline the nighttime Emmy Awards, set for telecast Sept. 18 on CBS, have been scrapped.

The board of governors of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences decided this week not to implement the innovations, in which acceptance speeches in several categories, including writing and directing, would have been taped in advance and kept to a strict time limit.

“In effect, the amount of time being saved was not as much as originally thought and the costs incurred would be in excess of original projections,” the academy said.

The governors initially approved the changes after the three-hour ceremony had its second-lowest ratings ever last year, attracting fewer than 14 million viewers. The concept was a compromise. Originally, academy officials had thought of moving some of the writing, directing and acting awards to the creative arts ceremony, the week before the big TV ceremony. But the Writers Guild and Directors Guild protested the idea.

A total of 27 Emmys will be presented during this year’s ceremony -- the most of any telecast awards show.