Fox has decided to postpone the 75th Emmy Awards due to the strikes by the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA.
Fox, which was scheduled to air the ceremony on Sept. 18, is expected to soon announce the event will be rescheduled for January, according to a person familiar with the plans who was not authorized to comment.
The new date is contingent on the labor issues between the guilds and the studios being resolved before then.
Variety reported Thursday that vendors for the Emmy Awards had already been informed of the delay.
The Writers Guild of America has been on strike since May 2. Actors represented by SAG-AFTRA walked off the job this month. Both unions are looking for improved residual payments for streaming and protections against the use of AI.
Fox executives previously said the network would not go ahead with the program if either of the guilds were still on strike at the end of July. The network had no intention of moving ahead without talent to perform or present the awards.
The last time the Emmy Awards telecast was postponed was in 2001 after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York City and the Pentagon. The program, after being delayed a second time, was presented in November, seven weeks late.
Fox is delaying this year’s show because actors and writers would most likely not attend the event, which would leave the network with executives and reality show stars as presenters.
The Emmy Awards telecast went forward in 1980 when striking SAG members boycotted the event. Only one actor — Powers Boothe — showed up to accept his award. Boothe was honored for playing suicide cult leader Jim Jones in the miniseries “Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones.”
