FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Diana Torralvo
September 19, 2015 Bellevue Communications
(215) 893-4287
dtorralvo@bellevuepr.com
2015 MID-ATLANTIC EMMY® AWARDS PRESENTED IN PHILADELPHIA
Comcast SportsNet/The Comcast Network led Mid-Atlantic chapter with 11 awards
PHILADELPHIA – The Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) tonight presented the 2015 Mid-Atlantic Emmy® Awards during a three- hour ceremony held at the Philadelphia Hilton Hotel. A total of 81 Mid-Atlantic Emmy® Awards were awarded in 77 categories as the sold-out audience of more than 500 regional television industry professionals gathered for the 33rd annual event. The awards honor excellence in television news, programming and individual achievement in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. Philadelphia-based Comcast SportsNet/The Comcast Network led the night with 11 Emmy® awards. Following closely behind Comcast was WQED Multimedia in Pittsburgh which received seven awards including one of the evening’s biggest categories, “Overall Excellence.” WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh received a total of five awards, including “Team Coverage,” and “Evening Newscast – Larger Markets.”
Among the highlights from the show included NBC10’s “Overnight Flooding Aftermath” taking Morning Newscast, CBS3 received honors in the News Excellence category, and Pittsburgh’s WPXI-TV took home the award in the Spot News category for its coverage of the “Franklin Regional High School Stabbing.” Well-known news personalities from across the region assisted with award presentations, including Denise Nakano of NBC10, Ron Burke of Comcast SportsNet, Wendy Bell of WTAE, Jason Bristol of WHP CBS21 and David Highfield of KDKA, among others. Music was provided by Be Jolly Music.
During the evening’s festivities, the Mid-Atlantic Chapter presented the 2015 Board of Governors Award to The Fred Rogers Company for its significant contributions to the television industry. Founded in 1971, The Fred Rogers Company specializes in creating quality children’s programming for public television, which continues to advance the philosophy and values of its founder, industry pioneer Fred Rogers, by developing ways to engage new generations of children and families. Paul Siefken, Vice President of Broadcast and Digital Media for The Fred Rogers Company, accepted the award on behalf of the nonprofit.
In addition to the Board of Governors award, the Mid-Atlantic Chapter also inducted five television professionals into the Silver Circle Society, an honor society that recognizes significant contributions by individuals in the broadcast industry for 25 years or more. This year’s inductees included Pat Ciarrocchi, news anchor/reporter at CBS3 in Philadelphia; Paul Gluck, Associate Professor of Practice in the Department of Media Studies and Production at Temple University in Philadelphia; Michael Lazorko, news editor at WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh; Chuck Rhodes, reporter at WHTM-TV abc27 in Harrisburg; and Dee Thompson, retired reporter and longtime sportscaster from WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh.
The Mid-Atlantic Chapter also awarded eight College Student Awards for Excellence in College Production. Students honored in these categories received a certificate and their institution received a Crystal Pillar award. Penn State University and Temple University led the night with three awards each, including Newscast for Penn State and General Assignment News for Temple. Neumann University and Duquesne University, both took home one award each, in the categories of Talent and Public Affairs/Community Service, respectively. The college production awards are intended to be an incentive for the continued pursuit of excellence by those studying media and journalism and to focus public attention on outstanding cultural, educational, technological, entertainment, news and informational achievements by undergraduate college students.
The presentation of the Emmy® is intended to serve as an incentive for the ongoing pursuit of excellence for those working in the television industry and to focus public attention on outstanding cultural, educational, technological, entertainment and news achievements in television.