The Tony Awards have aired on CBS for the past 32 years and that’s not changing anytime soon. The Eye network announced a three-year renewal of the TV awards show honoring Broadway’s best.
CBS has extended its long-standing relationship with the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing with a new three-year agreement to broadcast the annual Tony Awards through 2013. The awards show honors theater professionals for distinguished achievement on Broadway. It has been broadcast on CBS since 1978.
“For more than three decades, The Tony Awards has been an annual CBS showcase and a big part of our ongoing commitment to support the performing arts on television. We look forward to continuing this great partnership and bringing the best of Broadway to our viewers for many years to come,” said Jack Sussman, Executive Vice President, Specials, Music and Live Events, CBS Entertainment.
“We hear time and time again how the Tony Awards inspire students and young professionals across the country in their dreams of theatrical careers,” said Howard Sherman, executive director of the American Theatre Wing.
“The Tony Awards on CBS puts Broadway center stage for all the world to see, hear and enjoy!” said Charlotte St. Martin, Executive Director of the Broadway League.
The American Theatre Wing’s “65th Annual Tony Awards,” presented by the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, will be broadcast live in a three-hour ceremony in June 2011 on the CBS Television Network.
The Tony Awards were first held on April 6, 1947 at the Waldorf Astoria’s Grand Ballroom. The ceremonies are presented by Tony Award Productions, which is a joint venture of The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, which founded the Tonys in 1947.
The Tonys were founded in memorial to Antoinette (“Tony”) Perry, the American Theatre Wing’s World War II chairperson. The winners are selected by the governing board of Actors Equity, The Dramatists Guild, the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, the United Scenic Artists, the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers, the Casting Society of America, the New York Drama Critics Circle, the American Theatre Wing and members of The Broadway League.
