The 2020 Daytime Emmy Awards Ceremony Canceled Due To Coronavirus

The 47th Annual Daytime Emmys ceremony in Pasadena, Calif., originally set for mid-June, is the latest show business event to be canceled. But your favorite stars will still be competing for the coveted gold statuettes.

Daytime Emmy Awards: Coronavirus Casualty

According to the website for the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the following statement was released form NATAS Chairman, Terry O’Reilly:

“Given our concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, we have decided that we will not be staging the 47th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards in Pasadena this coming June. As there are so many unknowns right now with the flow of information changing on a daily, almost hourly, basis, it would simply be irresponsible to move forward with our annual celebration of excellence in daytime television at this time.”

The news comes weeks after the decision NATAS made to postpone both its annual Technology & Engineering Emmy® Awards (in Las Vegas) and its Sports Emmy® Awards (in New York City) due to the rapid spread of coronavirus.

“These were extremely difficult decisions to make, but at the end of the day the health and safety of our event attendees and staff must remain our paramount concern,” said Adam Sharp, President & CEO, NATAS. “We are closely monitoring public health authorities’ guidance, seeking feedback from our awards communities, and evaluating the flexibility of our venue and production partners as we plan for the future in this unprecedented context.”

There’s some good news, however. Judging for the Daytime Emmy categories will continue as scheduled and there will be winners for last year’s outstanding work. “While we realize this is disappointing, this does not mean we will not be celebrating the work selected for recognition in our Awards judging processes,” said Brent Stanton, Executive Director, Daytime Emmy Awards in a statement.

“Judging continues, and we look forward to announcing our incredibly talented nominees later this Spring. We are working on some interesting alternative ideas for how to best recognize the honorees later this year and will share more details in the weeks ahead.” Soap Hub will keep readers posted on developments as they occur.