The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the “Excellence in Production Technology” Emmy® Award to NASA+ for their efforts behind “2024 Total Solar Eclipse: Through the Eyes of NASA.” The award was presented as part of the 76th Technology & Engineering Emmy® Awards at the Prince George Ballroom in New York, hosted by David Pogue. Dr. Tom Leighton, co-founder of Akamai, received Lifetime Achievement Honors; in his career, he has patented more than 50 developments surrounding content delivery, internet protocols, algorithms for networks, cryptography and digital rights management, and he created the largest distributed computing platform, which today delivers and secures tens of millions of requests per second to billions of users around the world. Also tonight in recognition of a new partnership between the NATAS and LG, one attendee was selected to receive an 83” LG OLED evo G5 television (valued at $6,500) during the ceremony.
Adam Sharp, President & CEO, shared: “It is a privilege to celebrate the individuals and companies who continue to redefine how technology can deliver communications to consumers around the world. I applaud Dr. Leighton’s many years of development and leadership, plus the countless technological achievements he has realized as co-founder and now CEO of Akamai.”
Joe Inzerillo, Chair of the NATAS Technology & Engineering Committee said: “As the technological landscape continues to evolve at a rapid pace, the pioneering work that has come from this year’s class of honorees is astounding. Congratulations to all this year’s Technology & Engineering Emmys winners.”
Quote from Dr. Tom Leighton, Lifetime Achievement Honoree:
“Every time you stream content to your viewers, every time you shop online or check your bank balance, or hold a virtual meeting with colleagues at work, chances are very good that you’re using Akamai or the technology that Akamai employees pioneered. Our goal today is the same as it was in the beginning – to power and protect life online by making the internet fast, reliable, and secure today, for billions of people a trillion times a day.”
Quote from Walt Lindblom, Coordinating Producer, NASA+:
“It represents the work of an incredibly talented group of network engineers, video engineers and audio engineers that have one thing in common: they don’t know how to say no. I’m incredibly proud of this team, they do amazing work, and they do it all the time.”
About NASA+, “2024 Total Solar Eclipse: Through the Eyes of NASA”:
This was a live broadcast and streaming event for the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse, featuring expert commentary, multiple telescope feeds (including a dedicated one for the corona), and coverage from across North America, offering science, stunning visuals, and citizen science opportunities like Eclipse Soundscapes, allowing everyone to experience this rare cosmic event even if not in the path of totality.
The 2025 Technology & Engineering Emmy® Awards Honorees Included:
Pioneering Standardization of VOD Asset Metadata Distribution Specifications
-
CableLabs
360 Degree Consumer Video Capture, Editing and Presentation Technologies
-
GoPro
-
Insta360
-
Google
-
Adobe
-
Apple
-
ByteDance
Specification for AV1
-
Alliance for Open Media
SMPTE ST 2067 — Standardization of Interoperable Master Format (IMF)
-
SMPTE/IMF USER GROUP
-
Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA)
-
Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI)
-
University of Southern California’s Entertainment Technology Center (USC-ETC)
Pioneering Mastering HDR Display
-
Dolby Labs
AI Image/Video Enhancement for High Quality TV Catalog Restoration
-
MTI Films
-
Topaz Labs
Standardization of Common Media Application Format (CMAF)
-
MPEG Systems (ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 3)
Also celebrated at the December 4th ceremony are the following Technology Pioneers:
-
For the pioneering concepts of the light valve: Michael Faraday and John Kerr
-
For the pioneering development of the photocell: Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel, Julius Johann, Phillipp Ludwig Elster, and Hans Friedrich Karl Geitel
-
For the pioneering development of optical-input facsimile transmission, Carlo Mario Perosino, Édouard Belin, and Arthur Korn
About the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) is a service organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of television and the promotion of creative leadership for artistic, educational and technical achievements within the television industry. It recognizes excellence in television with the coveted Emmy® Awards for News & Documentary, Sports, Daytime and Children’s & Family programming, as well as achievements in television Technology & Engineering.
NATAS membership is made up of National members joined by more than 18,000+ broadcast and media professionals represented in 19 regional chapters across the country. Beyond awards, NATAS has extensive educational programs including its National Student Production Awards for outstanding journalistic work by high school students, as well as scholarships for aspiring filmmakers and broadcasters.
For more information, please visit the website at http://www.theemmys.tv/
