L.A. Emmy Nominations: KNBC Leads the Pack, But Time Warner SportsNet Impresses

The Lakers couldn't survive the playoffs, but Time Warner Cable's new local sports channels -- which now carry the team -- are already on their way to Emmy gold.

In their first year of eligibility, Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Time Warner Cable Deportes earned a combined 15 nominations (8 for the English network, 7 for the Spanish channel) in the 65th Los Angeles Area Emmy Award competition, besting chief competitors Fox Sports West/Prime Ticket.

What's more, Time Warner Cable SportsNet also has already been awarded two Emmys, for creative technical crafts. Not bad for two channels that just launched in October -- but clearly carrying the Lakers makes a difference, even in an off year like this one.

The Emmy nominations were less impressive for Fox Sports West/Prime Ticket, which earned a combined 12 nods (5 for Prime Ticket, 4 for both and 3 for Fox Sports West) -- a huge dip from the 22 they picked up last year..

As it seems to do every year, KNBC/4 once again led the pack, with 18 nominations, followed by Univision's KMEX/34 (15), Tribune's KTLA/5 (13), KABC/7 (12), public TV indie KCET (12) and KCBS/2 (9). (The combined KCBS/KCAL duopoly earned 17).

Several of KCET's nominations were for "SoCal Connected," a show that remains in limbo at the station. Somehow the show, for reasons that will need to be explained to me, was nominated in both the "INFORMATIONAL/PUBLIC AFFAIRS SERIES (MORE THAN 50% REMOTE)" and the "INFORMATIONAL/PUBLIC AFFAIRS SERIES (MORE THAN 50% STUDIO BASED)" categories. So which is it, remote-based or studio-based??

The L.A. riots remain a hot topic. KCBS/KCAL's "Eye On Our Community: The L.A. Riots--20 Years Later" was nominated in the "ARTS AND CULTURE/HISTORY" category, while KNBC's "LA Riots: 20 Years Later" was nominated in the "NEWS SPECIAL" competition.

Interestingly, despite Time Warner Cable SportsNet's overall haul, its live Lakers coverage didn't get a nom. In the "LIVE SPORTS COVERAGE" category, Prime Ticket's Clippers basketball coverage will face off with sister Fox Sports West's Kings hockey coverage.

In another bit of an upset, KTLA's Rose Parade coverage, a frequent winner in the "LIVE SPECIAL EVENTS -- PROGRAMMING" category, wasn't nominated there this year. KMEX's "Roses Parade 2012" was, however. And it's going up against another Spanish-language special: Time Warner Cable Deportes' "Launch Show."

Speaking of head-to-head bouts, in the "LIVE SPECIAL EVENTS-NEWS" category, KTLA's coverage of the Endeavour Space Shuttle arrival will face off with KTTV/11's coverage of the same thing. And in the "LIVE COVERAGE OF AN UNSCHEDULED NEWS EVENT" category, KTLA's coverage of the Newtown, Conn., shooting will go up against KTTV/KCOP's coverage of the same event.

A few more categories:

INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING - NEWS
BEHIND THE GATES OF THE GUARD (KNBC)
CALTRANS AND THE GOVERNOR (KCBS)
CALTRANS DRINKING ON THE JOB (KCBS)
EL 34 INVESTIGA: FRAUDE HIPOTECARIO (KMEX)
ILLEGAL ANIMAL TRAFFICKERS (KNBC)

OUTSTANDING SPORTS REPORTING
Michael Eaves (Fox Sports West)
Mario Solis (KNBC)

OUTSTANDING HARD NEWS REPORTING
Ana Garcia, Reporter; Robbi Peele, Producer (KNBC)
David Goldstein, Reporter (KCBS/KCAL)
Joel Grover, Reporter; Chris Henao, Producer (KNBC)
David Ono, Producer, Reporter (KABC)
Antonio R.Valverde, Reporter (KMEX)

OUTSTANDING NEWS FEATURE REPORTING
Pat Harvey, Reporter; Mansan Luc, Producer (KCBS/KCAL)
Dave Malkoff, Reporter (KTLA)
David Ono, Producer, Reporter (KABC)
Norma Roque, Reporter (KMEX)

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR - NEWS
Gayle Galvez, Director (KNBC)
Todd Griffithe, Director (KTLA)

OUTSTANDING WRITER - NEWS
Daisy Lin, Writer (KNBC)
Nicolette Medina, Writer (KCBS/KCAL)

Besides the two Time Warner Cable SportsNet awards, KNBC also picked up an Emmy in the "SPORTS SERIES-NEWS" category, for "The London Olympics: SoCal Shines at Summer Games."

As usual, any one who entered for the best newscast categories were nominated. And as usual, KABC refused to enter itself in any of the categories (leaving staffers to submit themselves).

This year's Governors Award will go to Univision's "comprehensive, multi-platform" education initiative "Educate, Es El Momento."

All told, 136 nominations were made in 43 categories. The 65th Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards winners will be announced on Saturday, August 3, 2013, at the Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre in North Hollywood.

PREVIOUSLY:

L.A. 2012 Emmy Nominations: Fox Sports West/Prime Ticket and KNBC Lead the Pack (July 2012)

LA Local Emmys: KNBC Extends Its Streak at the Top (August 2012)

L.A. Emmy Nominations: Fox Sports West/Prime Ticket and KNBC Lead the Pack

NBC-owned KNBC (Channel 4) once again leads the nominations for Los Angeles Area Emmys, with 20 nods out of 42 categories overall (KNBC also led the pack last year). Tribune's KTLA (Channel 5) was next, with 14 nods, followed by ABC-owned KABC, with 13 -- which is a feat in itself, since KABC employees nominate themselves in all categories. KABC continues to sit out of the Emmy competition and still doesn't enter itself in any of the major awards.

But here's where things get tricky. CBS' KCBS/KCAL duopoly will likely note that when the two stations' tallies are combined, they actually lead KNBC with 21 noms overall. That's because KCBS earned 13 nominations and KCAL earned 2, while a combined KCBS/KCAL earned another 6.

And if we're getting technical here, Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket, which also operate under the same roof, actually lead the market with 22 noms overall -- 8 for the combined operation, and another 7 apiece for Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket. Sister Fox-owned KTTV (Channel 11) earned 3, and KCOP (Channel 13) even earned one (which is odd, since KCOP simply airs KTTV-produced news) -- so the entire Fox west coast operation got 26.

Whew. Got it? OK, let's move on to the actual nominations.

In my favorite category, "L.A. LOCAL COLOR" (which was won last year by KCAL's "Dine on a Dime") the nominees are:

20TH ANNIVERSARY OF KTLA MORNING NEWS (KTLA)
BEHIND THE SCENES AT CIRQUE DU SOLEIL IRIS (KABC)
MASTER CHEF: THOMAS KELLER UNCORKED (KCET)
NONSTOP FOODIES FROM PORTO'S (KNBC)
SPECIAL OLYMPICS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: ABOVE AND BEYOND (KTLA)

For "NEWS SPECIAL," won last year by Dave Malkoff's "Assignment Iraq" at KTLA, the noms are:

THE CONRAD MURRAY TRIAL (KCOP)
NBC4 NEWS AT 11: THE DEATH OF OSAMA BIN LADEN (KNBC)

For "LIVE SPECIAL EVENTS- PROGRAMMING," won last year by KTLA's Rose Parade coverage:

2011 ROSE PARADE (KTLA)
JERRY WEST STATUE UNVEILING (Fox Sports West)

For "LIVE COVERAGE OF AN UNSCHEDULED NEWS EVENT, won last year by KTLA storm coverage:

CONRAD MURRAY: THE VERDICT (KNBC)
OCCUPY LA (KTLA)
SEAL BEACH MASSACRE (KNBC)

For "OUTSTANDING SPORTS REPORTING," won last year by Fox Sports West/Prime Ticket's Lindsay Soto:

Michael Eaves, Reporter (Fox Sports West/Prime Ticket)
Courtney Jones, Reporter (Fox Sports West/Prime Ticket)
Mario Solis, Reporter (KNBC)

For "OUTSTANDING HARD NEWS REPORTING," won last year by KABC's David Ono:

Ana Garcia, Reporter (KNBC)
David Goldstein, Reporter (KCBS)
Robert Kovacik, Reporter (KNBC)
David Ono, Reporter (KABC)

For "OUTSTANDING NEWS FEATURE REPORTING," won last year by KNBC's Bruce Hensel:

Pat Harvey, Reporter and Mansan Luc, Producer (KCBS)
Chuck Henry, Reporter and Tara Wallis, Producer (KNBC)
Susan Hirasuna, Reporter, Producer (KTTV)
Dave Malkoff, Reporter (KTLA)
David Ono, Reporter (KABC)

For "OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR - NEWS," won last year by KTLA's Bruce Hileman:

Gayle Galvez, Director (KNBC)
Deborah Wilkinson, Director (KTLA)

For "OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR - PROGRAMMING," won last year by KNBC's Gayle Galvez:

Doug Freeman, Director (Fox Sports West / Prime Ticket)
Andy Rosenberg, Director (Prime Ticket)

For "OUTSTANDING WRITER - NEWS," won usually by KNBC's Mary Harris:

Mary Harris, Writer (KNBC)
Nicolette Medina, Writer (KCBS/KCAL)

Already winning awards are KTLA for "LIVE SPECIAL EVENTS - NEWS" with coverage of the Royal Wedding. And KCBS/KCAL's Gustavo Sampaio won for news editing. Veteran KCAL producer Susan Stratton -- who broke gender barriers while working on the station's Lakers coverage for 27 years (harking back to the days when it was still KHJ) will receive this year’s Governors Award.

KNBC swept last year's awards in the news show categories, we'll see if they repeat on Saturday, August 11, 2012 at the Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre in North Hollywood.