Award Changes for 66th Primetime Emmy Awards

The Television Academy's Board of Governors has voted to approve several Award and category changes for this year's 66th Primetime Emmy Awards. These changes were carefully considered by the Television Academy Awards Committee along with the Board of Governors to ensure that the Primetime Emmy Awards accurately celebrates the excellence in our ever-evolving industry. The following changes will be implemented into this year's award competition:

Separation of Outstanding Miniseries and Movie Program Category

Outstanding Miniseries or Movie will now be split into two separate program categories. The new categories will be Outstanding Miniseries and Outstanding Television Movie. This separation is only for the program category with all other awards in the category remaining combined between the two formats. Movies and Miniseries were consolidated into a single program category in 2011 due to a general industry downtrend of the genre. The Television Academy acknowledges the increased programming of both movie and miniseries over the past three years and returned them to their pre-2011 status as separate program categories.

Split of Outstanding Reality Program Category

Outstanding Reality Program will now be separated into two categories – Outstanding Structured Reality Program (i.e. "Antiques Roadshow," "MythBusters," etc.) and Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program (i.e. "Pawn Stars," "Duck Dynasty," etc.). As with miniseries and movies, there is a general industry uptrend in two different types of narrative reality programming and the split accommodates that trend.

Split of Outstanding Voice-Over Category

Outstanding Voice-Over Performance will now be separated into two categories – Outstanding Narrator and Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance. As with longform and reality, this split acknowledges and accommodates a general industry uptrend in the distinctly different achievements that are VO narration and VO character performance.

Increase in Number of Nominees for Directors, Writers and Performers in the Miniseries/Movie Category

The number of longform nominees in writing, directing and performing has been increased from five to six nominees. Additionally the final voting procedure has been changed from a preferential vote in which nominations are ranked one against the other in a head-to-head competition to a ratings-score vote, in which each nomination is considered on its own terms and given its own score (with the top scorer emerging as the award recipient).

Implementation of the 2% Rule for Outstanding Comedy and Drama Series Categories

The 2% rule will now be applied to the comedy and drama series program categories. Under this change, a comedy or drama series whose total first-round votes are within 2% of the sixth place series would also receive a nomination, creating the possibility of seven nominees in each category. Previously the 2% rule had only applied to categories with five nominees.

Outstanding Technical Direction/Camerawork/Video for a Series

This award will now be classified as an area award with the possibility of one or more than one award. The nominations would continue to be proportioned according to the entries. Additionally, the number of nominations will be increased from five to six.

The 66th Primetime Emmy Awards are scheduled for Monday, Aug. 25, 2014 live coast-to-coast (8-11 PM ET / 5-8 PM PT) on NBC from the Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles.