THE NATIONAL TELEVISION ACADEMY PRESENTS THE 33rd ANNUAL CREATIVE CRAFT DAYTIME EMMY AWARDS

Meredith Vieira in New York and John Henson in Hollywood Host Simultaneous Emmy Awards Ceremonies

New York, NY, April 22, 2006 – The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences presented the 33rd Annual Creative Craft Daytime Emmy^® Awards on Saturday, April 22, during simultaneous ceremonies held at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City and the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood and Highland in Los Angeles.

Meredith Vieira hosted the New York ceremony, joined by an all-star lineup of daytime celebrities including Martha Stewart (Martha), Bob McGrath (Sesame Street) Kevin O'Connor (This Old House) and  Suzanne Walker Fanning (“Fiskars TV Crafting Show”) plus stars from the Emmy-nominated daytime dramas. In Hollywood, a star-studded ensemble presenting the awards included daytime drama stars as well as Alex Trebek (“Jeopardy!”), Tony Okungbowa (DJ from the Emmy-nominated “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”), best-selling author Greg Behrendt (He’s Just Not That Into You) who will be launching a new daytime talk show this fall, and Kristan Cunningham (“Design on a Dime”).  The Hollywood event was hosted by actor/writer/ comedian  John Henson (“Watch This”).

At the ceremonies, Daytime Emmy Awards were presented in such categories as: Directing in a Talk Show; Casting Director for a Drama Series; Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design; Writing in a Children’s Series; Costume Design/Styling; Multiple Camera Editing; Music Direction and Composition; Directing in a Children’s Series; Outstanding Children’s Series, Outstanding Game Show/Audience Participation and Outstanding Service Show.  And for the first time, an Emmy Award will be presented for Outstanding Content delivered via the Internet, cellphones, PDAs and other small screen devices.

In addition, Caroll Spinney, the puppeteer who plays the roles of Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street, was honored with this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award.   Spinney was chosen for his work entertaining and educating children for nearly four decades, since the series debut in 1969.  His characters have been seen on more than 4,000 episodes, as well as Sesame Street television specials that have taken Spinney to China, Japan, Australia, France, Germany, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Spinney starred in the feature film Follow That Bird and has performed on a number of other shows, including The West Wing and Hollywood Squares. 

Daytime Emmy Awards in additional categories, primarily for performances and programs, will be awarded at the 33^rd  Annual Daytime Emmy Awards, telecast live on ABC from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on Friday, April 28 (8:00-11:00 PM,ET/PT).  This will mark the first time the Daytime Emmy Awards will be broadcast from Hollywood in the 33-year history of the Awards ceremonies.

Daytime Emmy Award recipients are chosen by a panel of their peers in 57 categories.  Emmy Awards are presented to daytime television programs that are broadcast nationally between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 p.m.  The eligibility period for this year’s Daytime Emmy Awards was January 1, 2005 – December 31, 2005.

Official Partners for the 33^rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards include American Airlines, Dr. Scholl’s, Fiskars, glacéau smartwater®, and Star magazine.  Charles Fazzino is the Official Artist of the 33^rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards, and created the commemorative poster and program cover.

The 33^rd  Annual Daytime Emmy Awards is a presentation of the National Television Academy in cooperation with the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

The awards were tabulated by the independent certified public accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche LLP.  A breakdown of the Awards by broadcast and cable entities as tabulated by Deloitte & Touche LLP is as follows:
 
PBS - 12 
Syndicated - 10
CBS - 9 
ABC - 4 
Food Network - 2     
Kids WB - 2
NBC - 2
AOL - 1
Discovery Health - 1
Showtime - 1 

To see the complete list of winners in all categories, as tabulated by Deloitte & Touche LLP, you may visit the National Television Academy web site at www.emmyonline.tv, or click here. You may also download a complete release package (word file) with winners breakdowns here.

Click here to view all winners of the 33rd Annual Creative Crafts Daytime Emmy® Awards

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