NORTH HOLLYWOOD (CNS) - The number of Primetime Emmys nominees will be based on the amount of submissions in the category under a rule change announced tonight by the Television Academy.
The change comes in response the growing number of submissions and “to allow for more inclusiveness in the recognition of excellence,'' according to the Television Academy.
Submissions for 2020 Primetime Emmys have increased by 15% over the 2019 ceremony, according to Television Academy Chairman and CEO Frank Scherma.
There will be a sliding scale between zero to four nominations in categories with one to 19 submissions; five nominations in categories with 20-80 submissions; six nominations in categories with 81-160 submissions; seven nominations in categories with 161-240 submissions; and eight nominations in categories with more than 240 submissions.
There will be eight nominations each in the outstanding comedy and drama series categories, regardless of the number of submissions. There were eight nominees for outstanding drama series at the 2019 Emmys and seven for outstanding comedy series.
Paired performer categories, such as outstanding supporting actor in a comedy and outstanding supporting actress in a comedy, will have the identical number of nominees.
The rule change eliminates the previous 2% rule, which specified that in categories with five nominees, if the fifth and sixth top vote-getters were within 2% of each other, both would be nominated.
“The increase in submissions is a reflection of the number of new voices, new television platforms and a tremendous growth in content from existing platforms across our industry,'' Scherma said.
“Despite production suspension resulting from COVID-19, there is a wealth of excellent work submitted for this year's competition.''
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