(Editor’s note: The following question is an extension of last month’s interview with Academy of Television Arts and Science (ATAS) President Dick Askin. Interviewer Chris Davison arranged with Askin to save it until after the 2007 Emmy nominations were announced on Friday, July 20, 2007.)

by Chris Davison, davison@intellcap.com
Q: What are your thoughts on the new Emmy nomination procedures and their results?
Overall we’re very pleased with the results. Prior to 2006 the Emmy nominations procedures hadn’t been changed in over 20 years and so there were concerns about the same people and programs being nominated year-over-year. We instituted some rule changes last year in order to expand the breadth and depth of Emmy nominees, we added blue-ribbon nomination panels and although I’d say we accomplished 75-80% of what we set out to do there were some notable omissions. This year we tweaked the rules again and specifically as to the weighting of the blue-ribbon panels versus the popular vote. Last year, the panels had more weight than the popular vote, but this year it was 50-50 - an even balance. As a result, this year’s nominees are 60% new, the reaction from the industry has been very positive and so we feel that we’ve accomplished our goal. The nominees are balanced between veteran and freshman and we intend to keep the current procedures in place for next year, no further tweaks are in the works.