TV Academy Adds New Category, Reverses Documentary Campaign Rule

The Television Academy on Tuesday announced a new Emmy category as well as a revision of submission guidance for documentaries.

The new category, outstanding emerging media program, will be awarded to “producer(s), company(s), and/or individual(s) responsible for the creation of emerging media programming related to an existing linear television program or series or one that is entirely original. The award recognizes content that is central and fundamental to the work itself and demonstrates creative excellence, elevating the audience’s viewing experience beyond traditional linear programming.”

In terms of documentary programming, the TV Academy has reversed its previously announced policy and will now allow documentaries “that appear on the AMPAS viewing platform but have not received an Oscar nomination” to qualify for Emmy consideration.

Starting last year, doc films that were on the AMPAS viewing platform were not eligible for Emmy consideration. The previous stipulation had read, “any film placed on the AMPAS viewing platform will be deemed a theatrical motion picture and thus ineligible for the Emmy competition.”

“This change aligns the Television Academy and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in their approach to documentary submissions,” the academy announced.

That means documentaries like All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, Fire of Love and Navalny, all in Oscar contention, won’t be eligible for the Emmy, but shortlisted documentaries like The Territory, Moonage Daydream, Descendant and Retrograde can.

The Academy previously announced a new juried emerging media programming peer group, which is given to “producer(s), company(s), and/or individual(s) responsible for the creation of groundbreaking emerging media programming that demonstrates technical or storytelling innovation, significantly elevating the audience’s viewing experience beyond traditional linear TV programming.”

“The new awards recognize professionals from across the industry who create or have an impact on emerging media program content, such as: virtual, alternate, mixed or extended reality interactive storytelling; viewer-driven narratives, storylines and sequences of content consumption; and multi-platform and/or metaverse storytelling,” says the Academy.

In December, the Academy shook up a variety of categories, notably the variety talk and variety sketch awards replaced with two new categories: outstanding talk series and outstanding scripted variety series.