And the 'iPod Emmy' Goes to ...

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Author: Roberts, Johnnie L.

Television

It's Jerry Time," produced by a company called Ozone, chronicles the life of a fortysomething single guy (Jerry) in 15-minute animated installments. "Sophie Chase," from CB Films, tracks the exploits of a sexy detective for a total of 120 seconds. "Stranger Adventure," by Riddle Productions, is an "online, interactive, brain-teasing adventure series." Each endeavor was too tiny for broadcast and cable networks, yet both are on the verge of forging television history. This week the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences is nominating a total of six similarly down-sized video offerings for a new, digital-age Emmy: Outstanding Achievement in Content for Non-Traditional Delivery Platforms. (OK, so the Academy could have worked on the name.) The award--the first expansion of the Emmys since cable-TV shows became eligible in the 1987-88 season--recognizes programming delivered wirelessly to cell phones or online to iPods and other portable devices.

But evaluating online excellence is a work in progress, the judges say. "The underlying issue was, 'What is television?'" says Peter Price, the Academy's president, who pushed for the award. "In this digital world, television is video images projected on a screen." The sheer variety of forms submitted--comedy, animation, dramas, interviews--was staggering; the six finalists were picked from 74 submissions. But allowing a breadth of entries, which took a week to sort through, was necessary, says judge Charles Dages, a top tech executive with Warner Bros. "If we had narrowed this early, we would have narrowed the ability of people in the art form to develop." (One art form that didn't make the final cut: the filming of models in bikinis. "SI.com Swimsuit Videos" was ruled a bit too racy.)

Within the Academy and the broader television industry, the initiative, finalized last November, has been controversial. Traditionalists were aghast at an "iPod Emmy," an award for content seen on scale-challenged screens. There's also been some grumbling about the fact that downloadable hits from TV (such as ABC's "Lost" or NBC's "The Office") weren't eligible. "Some of the more interesting stuff was from independent producers," says judge Michael Connor, a television veteran. Still, some nominees have big-media genes. There's "24: Conspiracy," a made-for-mobile spinoff of the hit "24," without the stars from the TV version. AOL won a nod with "Live 8 on AOL," an exclusive online telecast of the global concert, as did mtvU's broadband offering "Stand In," a series in which pop icons substitute-teach college classes. A winner will be announced April 22, though not during the awards show. How very traditional that would be.

PHOTO (COLOR): Prize fighters: Four of the six shorts up for the digital-age award

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By Johnnie L. Roberts