Blog June 19, 2015
2015 Peabody Awards Airs Sun., June 21
The 2015 Peabody Awards ceremony in New York City will be broadcast on Pivot TV this Sun., June 21, 9:00 p.m. (Eastern) and 6:00 p.m. (Pacific). The Awards honored Afropop Worldwide and some 40 radio, television and podcast programs for excellence in storytelling.
The 74th Annual Peabody Awards on Pivot is a 90-minute special TV event celebrating excellence in media and stories that matter. The special combines the best of the May 31 ceremony, hosted by actor/producer/writer Fred Armisen, along with spotlights on many of the winners of the award this year including Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Inside Amy Schumer, Fargo, Afropop Worldwide, The Americans, Serial and more. For the first time this year, the awards ceremony featured special guest presenters Tina Fey, Charlie Rose and Cecily Strong.
The broadcast includes “Cold Open” by MC Armisen, his comic send-up to the Peabody Awards featuring several 2015 Peabody winners including Sean Barlow and Banning Eyre from Afropop Worldwide, filmed the day before the ceremony. This intrepid group was taught a vigorous dance routine by a professional choreographer. What did or did not get into the broadcast, we will have to see.
Jeffrey Jones, director of the Peabody Awards, said: “Fred Armisen embodies this beautiful mix of the serious and playful, which in my mind is also what Peabody is all about. Beyond being just silly, it also offers a fun little tweak at other award shows. Plus, who knew that radio people could dance (or not)?"
Kent Rees, Pivot TV general manager, said: “The Peabodys are the only awards show that celebrates not only who wins but why they win, and we took this approach in crafting the special. Our aim was to create an entertaining and meaningful program that explains, in the winners' own words and through their work, why these projects are impactful in our culture.”
Afropop Worldwide won the Peabody Institutional Award, honoring the entire 27 years of its work in connecting the music and stories of Africa and the diaspora to the world. The special was produced by Den of Thieves and Pivot in collaboration with Peabody.
