A week after reviving the American Comedy Awards, NBC is teaming with Dick Clark Productions for The People Magazine Awards.
Set to air in late 2014, the two-hour special will honor the cultural forces of the year and celebrate the most influential and talked-about people in pop culture, celebrity and Hollywood that fueled the country's conversations.
The inaugural awards show will present newly created categories including the biggest phenomenon of 2014. The show’s top honor will be presented to the year’s most popular person. Awards in other categories include the recognition for style, humor and sexiest woman as well as performances from artists and include a slew of the year's most compelling personalities. Viewers across the country will also participate in a fan-voted award.
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"There is no better barometer of the cultural events and top personalities of the world than People magazine," said Paul Telegdy, NBC president of alternative and late-night programming. "This awards show will bring to light all who have broken through the clutter to make their voices heard throughout the year."
"People magazine is the most influential celebrity and entertainment news vehicle in America, making them the perfect partner for us to create a year-end awards show recognizing the year’s best and most talked about people across, film, television, music, sports and the social landscape,” DCP CEO Allen Shapiro said.
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For DCP, the deal comes as the world's largest producer of televised events (American Music Awards, Golden Globes, Academy of Country Music Awards, etc.) recently invested in the Hollywood Film Awards and after the company teamed with Insomniac to produce the Dance Music Awards, the latter of which is also set for 2014. DCP also extended its deal with Ryan Seacrest to host and exec produce Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with a multi-year deal.
For NBC, its move to broadcast the People Magazine Awards comes as awards shows and other live programming continue to be valuable property for broadcast networks in the DVR era. The network revived The American Comedy Awards and set the telecast for May 2014 -- the first year the awards will be handed out since 2001. The network previously attempted to take advantage of the appeal of live (read: DVR-proof) broadcasts with Million Second Quiz, a 24/7 game show hosted by Seacrest. That series, which aired over 10 consecutive days, did not catch on with viewers despite a massive push across all Comcast-owned properties. Meanwhile, the live elements historically have helped fuel the network's The Voice, which have yet to begin this season. NBC sits atop the ratings this season thanks in large part to DVR-proof football.
WME brokered the deal.
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