Emmys will air Sept. 20 after all

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The date of the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards has moved again -- back to Sept. 20, its original place on the calendar.

CBS had moved the telecast to Sept. 13 to avoid possible prime time delays that might be caused by an NFL doubleheader on CBS. But CBS executives didn’t know they had scheduled TV’s biggest night at the same time as another televised entertainment awards show.

‘After we announced plans for September 13, MTV informed us they were locked into the same day for the Video Music Awards, with venue and sponsorship agreements in place. We had the flexibility to move; they didn’t,’ said Jack Sussman, executive vice president of CBS Entertainment specials, in a news release. ‘It’s best for the industry and the audience that these events not compete against each other.’

According to the release, ’60 Minutes’ will plan a flexible broadcast following CBS Sports’ late-afternoon football game so that the Emmy Awards can air as close as possible to its 8 p.m. start time.

Maybe if Viacom and CBS had never split apart, this scheduling problem could’ve been avoided.

-- Maria Elena Fernandez