At the Television Academy's 73rd Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards ceremony, variations of "It's great to be here with all of you" were uttered by presenters and winners almost as often as "Congratulations!" — in English and Spanish — and "Thank you."
And with good reason. Held July 24 on the plaza of Academy headquarters in the NoHo Arts District, the presentation marked the organization's first in-person event since Covid-19 restrictions were instituted in March 2020. Indeed, Academy chairman Frank Scherma was the first to express his gratitude during his welcome.
"I'm so excited to be here tonight to celebrate excellence in Los Angeles-area news with all of you," Scherma said to the audience, which was at a reduced capacity because of ongoing Covid concerns. "All of you have been working incessantly over the last year, and through it all, you continue to deliver what we need most: information and a voice we trust. Thank you for everything you've done."
Honoring the best in Los Angeles programming in news, sports, entertainment, social issues, health and other subjects, the awards were hosted by Giselle Fernandez, journalist and news anchor for Spectrum TV. KCET led the night's tally with nine Emmy statuettes, followed by KVEA and Spectrum SportsNet with six and ABC7 with four.
KTLA5 won two of the three awards for regularly scheduled newscast, for its morning and evening broadcasts; KVEA won the daytime daypart. Said senior producer Marcus Smith, accepting on behalf of the KTLA News at 7AM, "Happy 30th Anniversary to us. What a way to close out this year. Thank you so much."
The LA CityView Media Group, whose Channel 35 became the city's first-ever 24-hour municipal cable channel in 1989, was the recipient of this year's Governors Award. It was recognized both for its history of service and wide-ranging news coverage and for its vital, lifesaving Covid-19 coverage and updates for Angelenos; Channel 35 is the only media outlet inside City Hall.
Channel 35 station manager Ted Lin thanked the selection committee for the honor, adding, "And acknowledging that there is a place for television in government — I am just gobsmacked. I'm very cognizant of those who received this award before us, and to be mentioned in the same group, it's fantastic; it's a wow. This last year, witnessing it, coming together with everyone and being a part of it reminds me of why we all chose to be in television. With sincere humility, thank you very much."
There were moments of levity amidst the serious topics. In accepting the News Series statuette on behalf of the team from ABC7's FACEism, cameraman-co-producer-editor Jeff MacIntyre told the audience, "It's hard to find words to describe the feeling [... pause ...] of wearing pants in public again."
Paul Button and Christie Lyn Lugo Leigh are the Television Academy's Los Angeles Area peer group governors. Mitch Waldow is Los Angeles Area vice chair. Bob Bain was executive producer of the ceremony.
