Creative Control of the Tonys?

[KJisgroovy]

I was a'wonderin'

Who holds creative control over the Tony Awards? By that I mean... who picks the Hosts? Who decides who can and can't perform? Who is responsible for what does and doesn't make the broadcast? The director? They Tony Committee? The American Theater Wing? CBS?

I've tried to suss it out on-line but haven't been able to figure it out.

 

[qolbinau]

I have no idea but given the low ratings and desperation for television coverage I can't help but feel there must be CBS executives working very closely with Tony creative leaders (whoever they are) to make decisions that might maximise TV viewership. I can't imagine CBS lets them have free reign over this. 

[dramamama611]

I think its safe to say the Tony Committee has little to do the the creative choices.   But then it's likely bandied about by your remaining mentions.

[BroadwayConcierge]

I do.

[JSquared2]

KJisgroovy said: "I was a'wonderin'

Who holds creative control over the Tony Awards? By that I mean... who picks the Hosts? Who decides who can and can't perform? Who is responsible for what does and doesn't make the broadcast? The director? They Tony Committee? The American Theater Wing? CBS?

I've tried to suss it out on-line but haven't been able to figure it out.

Although CBS (and specifically, Les Moonves) has final say, all of the decisions are made by Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner, the longtime executive producers.  Weiss is also the director.

 

[everythingtaboo]

On a related note, do we know why PBS stopped the first hour pre-show? Those were always so great, where you got to see the creative awards and a ton of those great montages.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

everythingtaboo said: "On a related note, do we know why PBS stopped the first hour pre-show? Those were always so great, where you got to see the creative awards and a ton of those great montages."

I don't know, but I think it would be pretty cool if the creative arts awards utilized the video montages with interviews of all the nominees again. I also think they could be streamed on Facebook live with different members of the Broadway community presenting each of them.

[BrodyFosse123]

The Tony Awards needs to get their s**t together and do a live Instagram Story feed prior to the actual awards show broadcast.

Since the pre-show awards presentation isn’t telecast there are no commercial breaks which wouldn’t create conflict with these paid advertisement slots so they can just live stream the entire thing then end it when the telecast begins on CBS.  Similar to what CBS did decades ago in partnership PBS airing the creative awards.  The PBS portion ended saying to now switch to CBS to watch the Tony Awards.  

[Kad]

everythingtaboo said: "On a related note, do we know why PBS stopped the first hour pre-show? Those were always so great, where you got to see the creative awards and a ton of those great montages."

I suspect PBS had less of a say in that than CBS.

[JSquared2]

BrodyFosse123 said: "The Tony Awards needs to get their s**t together and do a live Instagram Story feed prior to the actual awards show broadcast.

Since the pre-show awards presentationisn’t telecastthere are no commercial breaks which wouldn’t create conflict with these paid advertisement slots so they can just live stream the entire thing then end it when the telecast begins on CBS. Similar to what CBS did decades ago in partnership PBS airing the creative awards. The PBS portion ended saying to now switch to CBS to watch the Tony Awards."

That wouldn't be an option because that's not how the non-televised awards are usually presented.  By the time everyone is seated and they start giving out awards, it's usually closer to 7:30pm, then they'll get through a few before the live CBS show starts, then during the first hour or so they present them a few at a time during the commercial breaks.