24th Annual MidSouth Emmy® Nominations Announced

Darrell Waltrip to Host Live Emmy® Awards  Telecast; The Freedom Forum to Receive Governors’  Award..

The Nashville/Midsouth  Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS)  announced the nominations for the 24th Annual Midsouth Regional  Emmy® Awards at a reception at BMI headquarters on Music  Row

BMI’s Senior Director of  Media Licensing, Mason Hunter, who  serves on the board of governors of the academy, hosted the nomination  party.   He announced that  NASCAR champion Darrell Waltrip will  host the live telecast of the 24th Midsouth Emmy® Awards  on January 30, 2010, at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center.  In addition to his spectacular racing  career, Darrell played himself in the Will Ferrell movie Talladega Nights, and was the voice of  Darrell Cartrip in the hit Pixar movie Cars.  For his work as a sports commentator,  Darrell was nominated for a national Emmy® Award for Outstanding  Sports Personality.

NATAS National Trustee Gene Policinski of The First Amendment  Center announced the inductees into the Silver Circle honoring quarter-century  contributions to broadcasting.  From  Greensboro, North Carolina, anchor Sandra Hughes, who has been with WFMY  since 1972. and Jerry Hayes, anchor  at WHNT in Huntsville, Alabama, who began his career in 1978, will be  honored.

NATAS National Trustee Phillip L. Bell announced that the Freedom Forum will be the recipient of  the Governors’ Award for lifetime achievement, the academy’s highest honor.  The Freedom Forum is a nonpartisan  foundation that champions the first amendment as a cornerstone of democracy, and  is the main funder of the operations of the Newseum, the First Amendment Center, and their  television series, Speaking Freely.  The First Amendment Center is housed in  the John Seigenthaler Center at Vanderbilt University.

Chapter President Ellen Jones Pryor of the Frist Center  for the Visual Arts expressed appreciation to BMI, Nic Dugger of Tennessee Digital Video, James Stevens, 615 Music Productions, and announcer,  Beth Tucker Womack, for the  nomination production.  Ms. Pryor  also announced that AT&T will be  the primary telecast sponsor for the 11th year.  She said the academy deeply appreciates  the remote television facilities being provided by Camp Digital, with additional support  from VER: Video Equipment Rentals.   She announced that The Hilton Downtown Nashville will once  again be the academy headquarters for the gala.

This year’s entries  resulted in nominations for 61 companies in 68 categories.  The complete list of nominations is  available at http://nashville.emmyonline.org/#129 The ballots, tabulated by Jennifer Lane of Decosimo Vaden, were judged by the  Northwest Chapter of NATAS, based in Seattle, Washington.

Tickets to the Emmy Awards  gala are available at

http://emmyexpress.com/membership_events.php?c=18&e=1

For further  information:  Geneva Brignolo,  615-259-0040, emmynash@aol.com

The National Academy of  Television Arts & Sciences is a non-profit, professional organization  dedicated to fostering excellence in television. The academy has 19 chapters  with 15,000 members nationwide. The Nashville/Midsouth Region encompasses the  States of North Carolina (except Asheville) and Tennessee, and northern  Alabama.