ESPN Tops All Broadcasters with 55 Sports Emmy Nods; 24/7 Leads All Series

ESPN networks once again led the way in total Sports Emmy Award nominations as the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) unveiled the nods for the 33rd annual Sports Emmy Awards Ceremony, to be held in New York City on April 30.

The networks of ESPN (ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, ESPN 3D, and espn.com) led with 55, the NBC Sports Group (NBC, Versus, Golf Channel, and nbcsports.com) garnered 32, CBS (CBS, Showtime, CBSSports.com) entries received 26 nominations, and Turner Sports (TNT, TBS, NBA TV, NBA.com, and truTV) had 22. In addition, HBO Sports (19), Fox Sports Media Group (16), NFL Network (19), MLB Network (8), and DIRECTV (2) picked up nominations of their own. On the digital side, MLB Advanced Media and NFL.com were nominated in two categories, while NCAA.com and PGA.com (both Turner Sports properties) picked up one nod apiece.

HBO’s 24/7 was the most decorated series on the list with eight nominations, followed by ESPN’s E:60 (7) and Showtime’s A Game of Honor (5). In terms of live sports coverage, the Fox’s MLB and NASCAR coverage led the way with five nominations each, followed by the NBA on TNT and NBC Sunday Night Football, which scored four apiece. In addition, ESPN’s FIFA Women’s World Cup coverage, Winter X Games 15 coverage, Outside the Lines, and SportsCenter each garnered three awards, as did HBO’s Real Sports With Bryant Gumble, CBS’s coverage of the annual Army-Navy game, and Showtime’s The Franchise.

In addition, this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Sports will go to sports commentator and essayist Jack Whitaker.

Take a look at the full breakdown of the 2012 Sports Emmy Award nominations below:

All four major sports networks —  ESPN, NBC, CBS, Turner, and Fox —  were well represented in the Live Sports Live Event and the Playoff Coverage Categories, but NBC Sports Group came out on top with seven total nominations (including NBC, Versus, and Golf Channel programming). NBC was followed by Fox with five nominations, ESPN with four, CBS with three, Turner with two, and HBO with one:

Outstanding Live Sports Special
2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final, USA vs. Japan, ESPN
2011 Stanley Cup Final, NBC/Versus
The Daytona 500, Fox
The Masters, CBS
The World Series, Fox

Outstanding Live Sports Series
ESPN Monday Night Football, ESPN
HBO WCB/PPV Boxing, HBO
MLB on Fox, Fox
NBA on TNT, TNT
NBC Sunday Night Football, NBC

Outstanding Live Event Turnaround
2011 Tour de France, CBS/Versus
2011 Track & Field World Championships, NBC
Inside the Headsets, 27th All-Star Race, Speed/NASCAR Media Group
Inside the PGA Tour, PGA Tour Playoffs, Golf Channel/PGA Tour Entertainment
The USA Pro Cycling Challenge: Rematch in the Rockies, Versus/Blink Productions

Outstanding Playoff Coverage
2011 Big East Tournament ESPN
MLB on Fox, ALCS, Fox
NBA Playoffs on TNT, TNT
NBC NFL Wildcard Saturday, NBC
SEC Football Championship Game, Georgia vs. LSU, CBS
The 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup, ESPN

As for non–live-event categories, NATAS heaped praise upon HBO and ESPN programming, which combined for 11 nominations (six for ESPN, five for HBO) in the Edited Sports Special, Sports Documentary, and Edited Sports Series/Anthology categories:

Outstanding Edited Sports Special
24/7: Mayweather/Ortiz, HBO
Derek Jeter 3K, HBO/MLB Productions
E:60, “Risk” Special, ESPN2
Joplin: City of Hope, ESPN2
Sharpe Focus: Journey to Canton, NFL Network

Outstanding Sports Documentary
A Game of Honor, Showtime/CBS Sports
Catching Hell, ESPN
McEnroe/Borg: Fire & Ice, HBO
Runnin’ Rebels of UNLV, HBO
The Marinovich Project, ESPN
Unguarded, ESPN

Outstanding Edited Sports Series/Anthology
A Football Life, NFL Network/NFL Films
E:60, ESPN2
NFL Turning Point, Versus/NFL Films
Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel, HBO
The Franchise: A Season With the San Francisco Giants, Showtime/MLB Productions
World of Adventure Sports, NBC

Fox totaled four nominations in the Technical Team and the Technical Acheivment categories to lead all networks. In addition, ESPN 3D picked up two, adding to its first-ever nomination last year.

Outstanding Technical Remote
MLB on Fox, Fox
NASCAR on Fox, Fox
U.S. Open Championship, Golf Channel/NBC
Winter X Games 15, ESPN 3D

Outstanding Technical Team Studio
MLB Tonight, MLB Network
NASCAR on ESPN, ABC/ESPN/ESPN2
NASCAR on Fox, Fox
NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, Road to the Final Four, CBS Sports/Turner Sports  

The George Wensel Technical Achievement Award
America’s Cup Highlight Show, Live Line, Versus
NASCAR on Fox/MLB on Fox, Hot Trax/Hot Spot Fox
The DIAMOND Platform, MLB Network/MLB.com/MLB Productions
The Masters 3D Coverage, ESPN 3D

Other production categories include Graphic Design, Production Design/Art Direction, Camera Work, and Editing:

Outstanding Graphic Design
2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup, ESPN/ESPN2
ESPN Monday Night Football, ESPN
NBA All‑Star Weekend, TNT
NBC Sunday Night Football, NBC
Sport Science, ESPN/Base Productions

Outstanding Production Design/Art Direction
2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup, ESPN
2011 NBA Draft, ESPN
NASCAR on Fox, Fox 
NBC Sunday Night Football, NBC
Sunday NFL Countdown, ESPN 

Outstanding Camera Work
24/7 Cotto vs Margarito, HBO
24/7 Flyers‑Rangers: Road to the NHL Winter Classic, HBO
A Game of Honor, Showtime/CBS Sports
Grand Slam Tennis on ESPN, ESPN2
NFL Films Presents Shots of the Season, NFL Network/NFL Films
The 2011 Ford Ironman World Championship, NBC/Ironman Productions
The Promise, ESPN

Outstanding Editing
24/7 Flyers‑Rangers: Road to the NHL Winter Classic, HBO
24/7 Pacquiao-Marquez, HBO
A Game of Honor, Showtime/CBS Sports
Grand Slam Tennis on ESPN, ESPN2
Joplin: City of Hope, ESPN
Unguarded, ESPN

On the audio side of things, Fox dominated the Live Event Audio category, nabbing three of the four nods. Meanwhile, NFL Network and NFL Films were awarded for their efforts with two nominations in the Post-Produced Audio/Sound category:

Outstanding Live Event Audio/Sound
MLB on Fox, Fox
NASCAR on Fox, Fox
NFL on Fox, Fox
Winter X Games 15, ESPN

Outstanding Post-Produced Audio/Sound
24/7  Flyers‑Rangers: Road to the NHL Winter Classic, HBO
NBA on TNT, TNT/Turner Studios
NFL Films Presents Super Bowl XLV, NFL Network/NFL Films
Sound FX: All Access, NFL Network/NFL Films
The Army‑Navy Game, Opening Tease, CBS
The Franchise: A Season With the San Francisco Giants, Showtime/MLB Productions

Outstanding Music Composition/Direction/Lyrics
2011 NBA Moments on TNT, NBA All‑Star Game on TNT, and NBA Playoffs on TNT, TNT
McEnroe/Borg: Fire & Ice, HBO
Men of Mettle: Ed Sabol’s Last Football Movie, NFL Network/NFL Films
Monday Night Football, ESPN
The Army‑Navy Game, Opening Tease, CBS
The Curious Case of Curt Flood, HBO
The Franchise: A Season With the San Francisco Giants, Showtime/MLB Productions

ESPN was all over the Studio Show categories, collecting six of a possible 10 nominations:

Outstanding Studio Show —  Weekly
College GameDay, ESPN
Football Night in America, NBC
Inside the NBA on TNT, TNT
Inside the NFL, Showtime/CBS
Sunday NFL Countdown, ESPN

Outstanding Studio Show — Daily
Inside the NBA on TNT, Playoffs
MLB Tonight, MLB Network
NASCAR Now, ESPN
Pardon the Interruption, ESPN/Rydholm Projects
SportsCenter, ESPN
SportsNation, ESPN2

As sports programming continues to become a truly multiplatform experience, the Outstanding New Approaches to Sports categories have never carried more weight:

Outstanding New Approaches to Sports Event Coverage
March Madness on Demand, NCAA.com, CBS Sports/Turner Sports
MLB.com At Bat 11, MLB Advanced Media
NBA League Pass, NBA.com, NBA Digital
NFL Sunday Ticket Experience, DIRECTV
PGA Championship LIVE on PGA.com, PGA.com

Outstanding New Approaches to Sports Programming
A Game of Honor, CBSSports.com
Football Freakonomics, NFL Network/NFL.com
Sport Science, ESPN.com
Sunday Night Football Extra, NBCSports.com
The NFL Season: A Biography, NFL Network/NFL.com

The on-air talent categories are chalked full of familiar names, including Chris Collinsworth, who picked up nominations in both the Studio Analyst and the Sports Event Analyst categories.

Outstanding Sports Personality —  Studio Host
Bob Costas, NBC/MLB Network
Bryant Gumbel, HBO
Dan Patrick, NBC/DIRECTV
Ernie Johnson, TNT/NBA TV
James Brown, CB /Showtime

Outstanding Sports Personality —  Play-by-Play
Al Michaels, NBC
Jim Nantz, CBS
Joe Buck, Fos
Marv Albert, CBS/TBS/TNT
Mike Emrick, NBC/Versus

Outstanding Sports Personality —  Studio Analyst
Al Leiter, MLB Network
Charles Barkley, CBS/NBA TV/TNT
Cris Collinsworth, Showtime
Harold Reynolds, MLB Network
Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN
Skip Bayless, ESPN2
Trent Dilfer, ESPN

Outstanding Sports Personality — Sports Event Analyst
Cris Collinsworth, NBC
Gary Danielson, CBS
Jim Kaat, MLB Network
Jon Gruden, ESPN
Mike Mayock, NFL Network

Outstanding Sports Personality — Sports Reporter
Craig Sager, TBS/TNT
Ken Rosenthal, Fox 
Michele Tafoya, NBC
Pierre McGuire, NBC/Versus
Tracy Wolfson, CBS 

ESPN — and to a lesser extent HBO — ruled the Writing, Journalism, Short and Long Feature, and Open/Tease Categories with 14 nominations. ESPN’s E: 60 and Outside the Lines joined HBO’s Real Sports With Bryant Gumble as the most decorated sports TV-magazine programs:

The Dick Schaap Writing Award
2011 Open Championship, Round 3 Open, ESPN
24/7 Flyers‑Rangers: Road to the NHL Winter Classic, HBO
NBC Sunday Night Football,  “Bob Costas Essays,” NBC
NFL GameDay Morning,  “Lombardi Returns,” NFL Network
The Kentucky Derby, NBC

Outstanding Sports Journalism
E:60, “Nightmare,“ ESPN2
E:60, “Stranger than Fiction,“ ESPN2
E:60, “The Athletes of Bahrain,“ ESPN2
Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel, “Tennis Coach/Child Molester,“ HBO
Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel, “The College Bowl Game Money Trail,“ HBO

Outstanding Short Feature
E:60, “Together,“ ESPN2
Football Night in America, “The Greatest Gift,“ NBC
Human Highlight Reel, “Manny Ohonme: The Great Samaritan,“ CBS/Turner Sports
SportsCenter, “Time Out of Mind,“ ESPN
SportsCenter, “White Gold,“ ESPN
Winter X Games 15, Kevin Michael Connolly, ESPN

Outstanding Long Feature
E:60, “Dead Solid Perfect,“ ESPN2
NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, Amongst Friends: A Story of Loss and Healing, CBS
Outside the Lines, “Never Forgotten,“ ESPN
Outside the Lines, “The Man Behind the Red Bandanna,“ ESPN
Outside the Lines, “The Promise,“ ESPN

Outstanding Open/Tease
2011 NBA Playoffs on TNT, Dominoes, TNT
2011 Open Championship, Round 3 —  Saturday Open, ESPN
24/7 Flyers‑Rangers: Road to the NHL Winter Classic, HBO
NBA on TNT, NBA Forever, TNT
The Army‑Navy Game, CBS
The Indianapolis 500, ESPN/ABC

NBC and NFL Network received two nominations apiece in the promotional spots categories:

Outstanding Sports Promotional Announcement —  Institutional
All in One Place, MLB Network
It’s Not Crazy, It’s Sports, ESPN/WhiteHouse Post
NBA on TNT, Shaq “Get Ready,“ TNT
NFL GameDay Morning, “Carpool,“ NFL Network
NFL on Fox, “Better on Fox,“ Fox/MJZ

Outstanding Sports Promotional Announcement – Episodic
2011 Stanley Cup Final, No Words, NBC/Cosmo Street
24/7 Flyers‑Rangers: Road to the NHL Winter Classic, The Ultimate Rivalry, HBO
A Game of Honor, Showtime/CBS Sports
Bill Belichick: A Football Life, Meet Bill Belichick, NFL Network/NFL Films
NFL Kickoff, NBC