The Emmy Awards are in for a big change this year, as The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences have announced the creation of new categories that will allow for online content creators to win the prestigious television award.
Via The Hollywood Reporter, the Emmys are adding new short-form categories that will include content from YouTube Red, Crackle, Adult Swim and other online-focused entertainment sites. In the new category, individual awards will be given out for best actor and best actress performances in a short-form original series, best short-form original series comedy or drama and best short-form original series reality or nonfiction. To qualify for the award, a series must have aired a minimum of six episodes, with each episode being at least 15 minutes in length.
That means that YouTube star PewDiePie, who has more than 42 million subscribers, could potentially be nominated for an award for his "performance" in the YouTube Red Original Series Scare PewDiePie. He could, potentially, even win, as the awards are peer-voted.
While he would have a much better chance if the awards were voted on by the public, PewDiePie still is a force to be reckoned with. It is, after all, why his show is the poster child for YouTube's paid subscription service. His antics playing scary video games have now been translated to the real world, where showrunners in his new show attempt to scare the personality by mimicking the scenarios he once played in video game form.
"I think it's all an affirmation that our organization wants to recognize our members' work, regardless of platform or length," Academy chairmen and CEO Bruce Rosenblum tells Hollywood Reporter. "We will always be the organization that recognizes top achievements on the traditional networks, but our industry is evolving."
There is no shortage of quality content to be found on online-based entertainment sites, so it should be interesting to see what works rise to the top to be honored.
The Emmys also increased the number of nominees from five to six in the writing and directing categories for comedy and drama, and made some other rule changes. The 2016 Emmys will premiere sometime in September, though the show doesn't yet have an exact date. Late night host Jimmy Kimmel is rumored to host this year. If he does, it would be his second time hosting the awards.
