Emmys moved to the heart of awards season in January

The strike-delayed 75th Emmy Awards have a new home — one that places them squarely within Hollywood’s awards season, for a change.

Fox has announced that the Emmys will air on January 15 from the Peacock Theatre at LA Live in Los Angeles. The show will air on the Martin Luther King Jr holiday.

The timing means that the Emmys, which honour the best shows on television, will air weeks before the Screen Actors Guild Awards, which honours film and television actors.

Numerous other shows like the Golden Globe Awards, which have not been confirmed for a return to network television, and the Critics Choice Awards, also are held in January.

The ceremony will happen roughly four months later than originally planned.

While the move is a bit of a throwback — the first Emmys, where only six awards were handed out, were held in January 1949, the Emmys traditionally air in September, a slot that once heralded the upcoming autumn television season.

But that timing dates back to when broadcast television dominated — both in viewership and Emmys contenders — in a way that has been effaced by cable television and streaming services.

A person with knowledge of the plans but not authorised to speak publicly told The Associated Press last month that the show, scheduled for September 17, would be moved due to the ongoing strikes by film and television actors and screenwriters.

HBO is the leading nominee heading into the ceremony, with three of its series — Succession, The Last Of Us and The White Lotus — racking up 74 nominations. In all, HBO received 127 nominations.

Because of the dual strikes, actors and writers cannot campaign for their shows or do promotional interviews. The writers strike is now in its 101st day, longer than the 2007-2008 stoppage — and no end is in sight.

No host has been announced for the ceremony, which will celebrate the Emmys’ diamond anniversary.