‘Live 8 on AOL’ Wins Emmy

 
By Sherri April 25, 2006




It's official. "Live 8 on AOL" is the winner of the first-ever Emmy Award for non-traditional viewing platforms. The win was announced over the weekend during the 33rd Annual Creative Arts Daytime Emmy Awards.

AOL's program followed the summer music show that was designed to raise awareness about the problems of poverty around the globe.

The addition of an Emmy category strictly for programming outside the normal TV arena is big. In fact, it's huge. The move shows that the Hollywood Powers That Be have more than recognized the download trend, they're embracing it.

This is an acknowledgment of the future of television, one that's not determined by half-hour or one-hour programs," Tom O'Neil, the author of the book "The Emmys," said before the winner was announced. "This throws the shackles off of the definition of what TV has been."
Bloomberg

The popularity of alternate forms of viewing is spreading like wildfire with networks scrambling to get out offerings for the viewing public. Each week as of late brings with it more big news about the "future of television."

For the first-ever non-traditional Emmy, a total of 74 entries were logged; six were named finalists.

It looks like the choices will only continue to grow and hopefully the original programming will continue to get better and better. The non-traditional platform opens up a lot of doors for writers, directors and producers to create works not bound by tight time schedules and censors' unkind cuts. It's almost a given that we've just begun to see the potential of the brave and exciting new entertainment world.

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