With the TONY nominations announced barely two weeks ago, the TONY Awards presentation itself is now in limbo. Having not received a requested waiver from the WGA, The 76th Annual TONY Awards, presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing will not be able to move forward with a live broadcast. Scheduled for Sunday, June 11, 2023 from the historic United Palace in Washington Heights, in New York City on CBS, and streamed live and on demand on Paramount+. Both CBS and Paramount+ are members of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) which the Writers Guild of America (WGA) are on strike against since May 1.
The TONY Awards Management Committee meeting are supposed to meet on Monday, May 15 to explore the possible options of waiting or moving ahead without the broadcast. Two potential possibilities being discussed are a non-televised presentation announcing the winners on June 11 with the nominees and media present or postponing the ceremony entirely until the broadcast can go ahead at the end of the strike.
There are pros and cons to each option. The TONY Awards are an important marketing opportunity for the nominated Broadway shows as well as Broadway itself. Several of the nominated shows would be significantly boosted if they could post TONY-Winner on their marquee. This would be an argument to announce the winners in June 11 at a non-televised presentation. However, the overall marketing power of the nationally televised broadcast of the many performances during the TONY awards would be lost, which takes away opportunity to reach potential audiences for nominated shows even if they don’t win the TONY itself. This would be an argument to wait until they can move forward with the full broadcast celebration of Broadway.
To see the list of 76th Annual TONY Awards nominees you can click here.
