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At Saturday night's local Emmy awards, the Governors Award for lifetime achievement went to Susan Stratton, the KCAL9 producer-director who produced Los Angeles Lakers broadcasts for most of three decades, beginning in the Chick Hearn era. She also did the Kings and others, but was let go a few years after Hearn passed away. “A trailblazer for women in the television industry,” the Emmy organization said. She was feted on Saturday night by Kings announcer Bob Miller and Lakers analyst Stu Lantz. From the Hollywood Reporter:
In announcing the honor for Stratton, the Academy said, "For 27 years after KCAL first signed a deal to broadcast the Los Angeles Lakers, Susan Stratton was the woman in charge of bringing the telecast into the homes of Southern California. She broke down barriers in the industry by being the first woman television producer and director for a professional sports franchise in the United States.”“Long before I began working in the television business, I knew Susan's name having heard the legendary Chick Hearn frequently praise her during his Lakers broadcasts," said Television Academy Chairman Bruce Rosenblum.
On your scorecard, NBC4 ABC7 and KTLA5 each won seven Emmys. But in the categories that matter most to the stations, Channel 4 swept. The 6:00 p.m. news show was named outstanding regularly scheduled daytime newscast (from 11:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m.), "Today in L.A. at 6:00 A.M." won for daily morning newscast, and "NBC4 News at 11:00 P.M." won for newscasts airing after 7 p.m.
David Ono of ABC7 won three Emmy statuettes, for hard news reporting, writer-programming and arts and culture/history. The last category includes executive producer Jeff MacIntyre, producer Robert Horsting and associate producer Michelle Kim for “Witness: American Heroes,” about the Nisei who fought for the United States during World War II.
Among individual winners, CBS2/KCAL9's Nicolette Medina won for outstanding news writer, and also shared with anchor Paul Magers in an Emmy for their report on the former Rocketdyne toxic waste site, known as the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, in the Simi Hills. The editor winners were the duopoly's Gustavo Sampaio and Garry W. Ashton. The top videographers were Arturo Quezada of KMEX and Jeff MacIntrye of ABC7. Dave Malkoff of KTLA won for outstanding news feature reporting. The outstanding directors were Deborah Wilkinson of KTLA and Doug Freeman of Fox Sports West. The winner for outstanding sports reporting was Michael Eaves of Fox Sports West.
The festivities were held as usual in the Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in North Hollywood. A fitting location since most of the local news operations are now located in the Valley. There's a gallery of red carpet arrivals on the Emmys website.
Photo: Susan Stratton on the red carpet
