Written by Liz Gannes
Posted Tuesday, November 13, 2007 at 2:11 PM PT

TV Guide Canceling Online Video Awards Ceremony

TV Guide is canceling its December online video awards ceremony and television special, NewTeeVee has confirmed with a company spokesperson. The decision was made due to a feeling that celebrating online video would be insensitive at a time when television writers are on strike, according to a source involved with the awards show.

In an emailed statement, TV Guide (GMST) acknowledged the ceremony was being suspended “in light of the current labor dispute,” but said it would continue with the awards online, with the winners to be announced Nov. 26. We had previously commented that the list of nominees was skewed towards traditional media networks and stars, like Steve Carell and Will Ferrell.

TV Guide emphasized that the award ceremony was not canceled for lack of interest; some 1,600,000 votes have already been cast online.

The TV Guide awards are now not much different than this year’s YouTube Video Awards, which were also conducted virtually, and gave top honors to Ask a Ninja, Smosh, and OK Go. However, live online video awards ceremonies, such as the Vloggies and this year’s replacement, the Winnies, have attracted a strong indie video creator audience.

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Topic: Online Video

Comments (2)

Sounds like a good time to do an Online Awards Show. Maybe call it The Winnies http://youarethewinner.org/

Tim Street — 4:05 PM on November 13, 2007 Reply
They didn’t think they could compete with The Winnies.

Frank Sinton — 4:27 PM on November 13, 2007 Reply

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