Philadelphians are rare birds at the Emmys
Although Channel 3 earns a local Emmy nomination in the Overall Station Excellence category, it is Channel 10, also cited in the Station Excellence race, and City Tavern chef Walter Staib that pop up often enough to remind one Philadelphia competes for Emmys at all.
You see, in a jumble of geography every Delaware Valleyan knows is false, the National Association of Television Arts and Sciences, the organization that bestows all Emmys, local and national, decided against all common practice that Pennsylvania was an entire state instead of the expanses of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with small burgs in the middle and created a Mid-Atlantic Emmy that includes both the commonwealth’s cornerstone metropolis along with Harrisburg, Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, Lancaster, Allentown, and parts of New Jersey, Ohio, and West Virginia that abut Pennsylvania.
That what happens when you leave things to a Californian.
While seeming ecumenical, this arrangement keeps local viewers from caring much about the annual prize because so many nominees, from Pittsburgh and elsewhere, are too unknown to matter to a Philadelphian. It’s good to see excellence appreciated, and when you read the list of nominees, you sense TV at its best, but the NATAS choice to be statewide instead of compactly regional renders the Emmys an industry event rather than one that has much hope of mattering to the general public. At the time of the Emmys’ inception in 1983, the awards received wide coverage and were even televised by Channels 10 and 12. Lately, it’s only worth chronicling the locals that made the cut and pointing out some production companies that vie with the heavy hitters for award consideration. Adding to the statewide nature of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter, this year’s Emmys, set for Saturday, Sept. 9, will be held in Hershey, the first time the ceremony has left Philadelphia except for when it was a cross-state event with simultaneous gatherings in Philly and Pittsburgh.
Two shows that impressed greatly, Channel 12’s “The Pursuit: 50 Years in the Fight for LGBT Rights,” produced by Ilana Trachtman with the estimable Trudi Brown as executive producer, and Comcast SportsNet’s “Tomboy,” about women in sports, garnered nominations. So did Larry Mendte, whose news sense and writing ability is serving him well at PMCM-TV. His co-host for “Jersey Matters: The Heroin Crisis” is Dawn Stensland-Mendte, heard weekday afternoons on WPHT (1210 AM).
The Best Newscast category is a tad misleading. It is not conferred for a year’s worth of consistent work, but for a single broadcast with the eligibility year. Local stations nominated for it are Channel 10, for its coverage of a March snowstorm, and it sister station, Telemundo, which earned its nod for an overview of the Democrat National Convention in Philadelphia. Their rivals are three Pittsburgh stations. (Remember, Channel 6 does not compete and never has competed for Emmys.)
Channel 10 is the lone local scorer in the “Morning Newscast” category, cited for another shos about snow. It’s hard to believe Channel 29’s “Good Day Philadelphia” did not make some headway here.
For “Spot News,” Channel 10 represents Philadelphia again, this time for “The End of the Delaware Standoff,” about the prison riots in that state’s main correctional facility in Smyrna.
“Investigative Reporting” yields the same results, Channel 10 nominated for a Mitch Blacher piece about “School Fire Drills.” Telemundo also gets a nod in that category.
Philly stations score well in the “Feature News” category, with channels 3 (reporter Trang Do), 10 (reporter Matt DeLucia) and 29 (reporter William Anderson) all garnering recognition. The same stations, represented by reporters Alexandria Hoff, Katy Zachry, Lucy Noland, and Shawnette Wilson, also find places in the “Serious Feature News” field. Channel 29 gets two nods. Channel 10’s Keith Jones earns recognition for his stories about “Changing Philadelphia’s Skyline” in the “Feature Series” race.
Two independent companies fare noticeably in the Arts categories. PCK Media scores several nominations for shows ranging in classical music and dance to photography, while Panavista Inc. also gloms a couple of nods for shows featuring WRTI (90.1 FM)’s Jim Cotter as host.
Brad Nau, who has defected from the Comcast fold to Channel 3, also increases his impressive number of nominations with a photo essay entitled “Opportunity.”
Channel 10 makes it into the “Crime News” category with a story about sex trafficking while Channel 3 is cited in the “Education News” field with a piece called the “Modern Day Marshmallow Test.”
When it comes to food and entertainment programs, chef Walter Staib, with his “A Taste of History” series that ties cuisine with particular people and eras, such as “George Washington in Barbados,” earns a slew of nominations. Sam Katz’s ongoing Channel 6 series, “Philadelphia: The Great Experiment” continues to be recognized. Channels 3 and 10 are both cited for health stories and features, as are Channels 12 and 29.
Channel 10 and Telemundo earn points for political and government news, NBC 10 for is coverage of the DNC and Telemundo for its obit of Fidel Castro.
Naturally, in sports categories, Comcast SportsNet scores well with 10 nominations. The Eagles Television Network also receives a healthy share of citations for a variety of programs as broad as CSN’s.
In the “Interview/Discussion” category, programs produced by the American Law Journal fare as well as any station’s. Channel 10’s Jim Rosenfield, Denise Nakato and Lauren Mayk earn stripes in this category for their work om a political debate.
Trudi Brown’s “Friday Arts” show is represented twice in the “Magazine Program” category while Jim Cotter and Panavista are cited there as well.
My favorite categories are those that recognize individual achievement, categories in which Philadelphia stations bow to Pittsburgh and Harrisburg outlets more often than not.
In addition to its nod for “Overall Excellence,” Channel 10 News, helmed by Anzio Williams competes with Pittsburgh stations for “Overall News Excellence.”
Channel 10’s shrewd operator at bringing social media to the air in creative ways, Vince Lattanzio, vies against a Pittsburgh rival in the “Interactivity” category.
Among editors in several categories, only Channel 29’s James Ring and William Hartung are cited. Rachel Sophia Stewart from Sam Katz’s History Making Productions gets an independent nod while Jeffrey Crowe represents CSN for a Sixers program.
No Philadelphia is nominated in the Best Anchor category. The sole weather anchor to be cited is Telemundo’s Violeta Yas. The sports anchor award will reside, by default, in Pittsburgh or Harrisburg.
Walter Staib is the only Delaware Valley local in the program host category. Only Channel 10’s Matt DeLucia is mentioned in a reporting category, general assignment, while CSN’s Marc Zumoff competes for best sports announcer because of his Sixers play-by-play.
The photographer category would feel incomplete without Channel 3’s Brad Nau in it. Channel 12’s Eric Sennhenn, Panavista’s Aaron Lemle, and Eagles Television Network’s Joe Helder and Nick Rotondi are also represented in photography categories.
Channel 10’s Ted Greenberg is the sole local in the “Video Journalist” category. KJWP’s Larry Mendte, History Making Productions’s Andrew Ferrett, and PCK Media’s Susan Wallner vie in the “Writing category.