Sky Strikes New Deal To Air Emmy Awards As Kew Sells Event Globally

British pay-TV giant Sky has renewed its interest in airing the Emmy Awards, striking a deal to air the event for the first time in three years.

The broadcaster has picked up the UK licence for the 70th Emmy Awards from distributor Kew Media Distribution. However, it will not air it live – it takes place between 1am and 4am on Monday night in the UK – and will run it from 10pm on Tuesday evening on its Sky One channel.

This comes as one of its major commissions, Patrick Melrose, is up for a number of awards. The Showtime co-production has been nominated for Outstanding Limited Series, while lead star Benedict Cumberbatch has also secured a nomination.

Elsewhere, TV4 in Sweden has also struck a new deal with the international distributor, while a raft of partners have renewed their deals.

The event, which is run live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles from 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT and airs on NBC in the U.S., reaches 200 countries. Pan territory deals including Fox in Asia, Turner International in Latin America, Electronic Media Network in Africa and OSN in the Middle East.

Star (India), RAAD Productions (China), Fox (Japan) and Mongol TV (Mongolia) will also showcase the event alongside Telenet (Belgium), TV2 (Denmark), SerieClub (France), Turner (Germany), Fox International Channels (Greece), YES DBS (Israel), Rai (Italy), RTK (Kosovo), Fox (Netherlands), TV2 (Norway), SIC (Portugal), Amedia (Russia), Telefonica (Spain) and Digiturk (Turkey).

The 70th edition will be co-hosted by Saturday Night Live’s Colin Jost and Michael Che and executive produced by Lorne Michaels (Saturday Night Live). Presenting talent includes Rachel Brosnahan, Michael Douglas, Taraji P. Henson, Alec Baldwin, Constance Wu, Millie Bobby Brown, Tina Fey, Kit Harington and Tracy Morgan.

Greg Phillips, President, Kew Media Distribution, said, “We are delighted to continue our long-standing relationship with the Television Academy in the distribution of the 70th Emmy Awards. The evening delivers a thrilling celebration of the world’s greatest talents and we are proud to act as international ambassadors for such a prestigious brand. This primetime special is thriving due to the changing landscape of our business and the ever-increasing globalisation of our industry both on- and off-screen. The wealth of original content on SVOD platforms makes this showcase more relevant and appealing to broadcasters than ever before.”