Fifty years after the TV Academy broke into two, rival Los Angeles- and New York-based organizations, the two sides are exploring a re-merger. The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) and the Television Academy revealed Monday morning that they have started “exploratory talks” on bringing the two sides together.
There’s no deadline set for the conclusion of the talks, but the boards of both TV academies have “voted overwhelmingly to evaluate what a unified Academy could make possible: a strong vision for the Academy’s future, more effective thought leadership for the industry, broader service and support for members coast-to-coast, and new momentum and opportunities across the full complement of national Emmy competitions,” they revealed in a joint press release.
Because of the talks, the Television Academy’s board will extend all current sitting Governors’ terms by one year “to ensure continuity in the deliberations.”
After a years long bi-coastal rift that split them into two in 1977 (NATAS and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences, which later rebranded as the Television Academy), the old TV academy’s New York and Los Angeles chapters decided that their differences were irreconcilable.
