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The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) announced on Thursday that due to the coronavirus outbreak it has postponed the 47th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards, which had been scheduled for June.
"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," Terry O’Reilly, the NATAS chairman, said in a statement.
"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," O’Reilly continued.
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The announcement comes on the heels of two other award show postponements from the National Academy due to coronavirus concerns, including the annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards and the Sports Emmy Awards.
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"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," Adam Sharp, NATAS president and CEO, stated.
He 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.”
Meanwhile, Brent Stanton, executive director of the Daytime Emmy Awards, stated that while they realize this is "disappointing" news, it does not mean they will not be "celebrating the work selected for recognition."
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“Judging continues, and we look forward to announcing our incredibly talented nominees later this Spring," he said. "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."
The Daytime Emmys joins other award shows that have been postponed amid the coronavirus pandemic, including the 2020 iHeartRadio Music Awards, the Billboard Music Awards and the Academy of Country Music Awards.