The Daytime Emmy Awards – once the land of Oprah triumphs and Susan Lucci disappointments – are returning to primetime, broadcast TV.
CBS has set the show for 8-10 p.m. June 26, with the nominees and others at their homes. Key nominees will be announced Thursday (May 21) on its “The Talk,” at 2 p.m. ET and 1 p.m. CT and PT; then all the nominees will be on Etonline.com.
The awards began in 1974 and moved to primetime in 1991, when the daytime was filled with well-known stars. Lucci was on her 19th nomination before being named (shown here) best soap actress in 1999; Bob Barker won 14 times as ga,me-show show host. In one stretch, Phil Donahue was named best talk host nine times in 11 years; Oprah Winfrey later won five straight times, before withdrawing.
But interest dwindled, especially with fewer soaps. The Nielsen ratings went from 22 million viewers in 1993 to 4 million or less from 2008-11. After that, the awards spent eight years on basic cable (HLN, Pop) or merely online and on social media.
This year’s ceremony was scheduled for June 12-14, then was postponed because of COVID-19. Now CBS – which has had success with social-distance shows – has come up with the alternative.
The network has two of the four surviving soaps, “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful,” plus frequent gameshow winners “The Price is Right” and “Let’s Make a Deal.”
CBS previously had three social-distance music specials, one of them filling in for the Academy of Country Music awards, which were postponed to September. However, its Tony Awards, scheduled for June 7, have been postponed indefinitely, for a basic reason: Many of the voters were unable to see all the eligible shows before Broadway closed down.