AEG’s Microsoft Theater to remain host of the Television Academy’s Emmy Awards
The Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles will remain the home of the Emmy Awards at least through 2022.
The Television Academy and AEG have extended their decade-long partnership, which keeps television’s most prestigious awards show at AEG’s 7,100-seat Microsoft Theater at the L.A. Live entertainment center. The new agreement, to be announced Tuesday, kicks in with this year’s Emmy extravaganzas, which culminate with the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards on Sept. 22.
The new agreement is a coup for AEG, the Los Angeles sports and live entertainment giant, as it faces an increasingly crowded field of venues vying for marquee events.
Last year, the Banc of California Stadium opened near USC, close to downtown Los Angeles. The Forum in Inglewood, which is owned by rival Madison Square Garden Co., has long been a go-to spot for concerts. Also in Inglewood, the Los Angeles Rams are building a $5-billion stadium, which will serve as the jewel of a sprawling entertainment complex that is scheduled to include a concert hall. And the Dolby Theatre, with a trendy Hollywood address, is home to the Oscars and, increasingly, Broadway shows.
“We’re very happy that the Television Academy re-upped,†said Lee Zeidman, president of the Microsoft Theater, Staples Center and L.A. Live. “The Emmys were the first deal that we did back when the theater was known as the Nokia, and it was the success of the Emmys that showcased us as a multi-purpose venue capable of handling large-scale events.â€
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The contract replaces one struck in 2008.
“We’ve been happy to be downtown at L.A. Live,†said Maury McIntyre, president of the Television Academy. “AEG has been very collaborative, and we are excited by all of the development going on in that area.â€
The new agreement runs four years and includes a possible four-year extension through 2026. The Television Academy wanted to structure the pact so that it would run concurrent with the nonprofit organization’s current television rights deal, McIntyre said. The eight-year television license agreement, which allows the major broadcast networks — ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox — to each take a turn televising the Primetime Emmy Awards, begins this year and runs through 2026.
The Television Academy, which is made up of 24,000 members from the TV industry, needs the venue for more than two weeks. It stages the Creative Arts Emmys over two nights, Sept. 14 and Sept. 15, the week before the main award show, which will be broadcast on Fox. The organization will use other spaces, including Staples Center, the adjacent JW Marriott Conference Center and the L.A. Live event deck for the Governors Ball after the prime-time show.
“The footprint has grown,†Zeidman said. “They are now using more of the L.A. Live campus.â€
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