Emmys May Be Held on Military Base

By
ABC News
January 6, 2006, 5:15 AM ET
2 min read

October 10, 2001 -- TV Academy officials and CBS executives hope to decide by Friday how to proceed with this year's Primetime Emmy Awards, which were postponed for a second time Sunday following the launch of U.S.-led air attacks on Afghanistan

One thing appears certain: The show will go on — but it won't take place at the Shrine Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles. "We already did that," one insider said. "It's not something you would want to do again."

According to The Associated Press, television officials are considering moving the ceremony to an undisclosed California military base. The goal is to settle on a ceremony and location that would be unaffected by outside events, an unnamed source told AP. Having a bunch of armed soldiers on hand wouldn't hurt everyone's peace of mind either.

One rumored plan might involve turning the TV ceremony into entertainment for troops at a California military installation, but it's unclear at this point whether anyone's consulted the military about it yet.

'Multiple Options Being Discussed'Other scenarios that are being considered include holding the ceremony at a hotel ballroom, taping the show instead of televising it live, holding the ceremony but not televising it, and, possibly, televising it on a cable network rather than on CBS.CBS, which has paid a license fee of more than $3 million to the academy for the telecast, stands to lose advertising revenue if the show never airs on the network.

"Our plan is to reschedule in an appropriate venue that minimizes any chance of another postponement," said Bryce Zabel, Chairman of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. "We are having conversations between CBS and the academy to determine what that is. There are multiple options being discussed, but no decision has been made." "No final decision has been made on when, where, or how," CBS spokesman Chris Ender said.

The Emmys, which have never been canceled in their 53-year history, were originally scheduled for Sept. 16, but were postponed to Oct. 7 because of their untimely proximity to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.Reuters contributed to this story.