The Television Academy today announced the redefined Emerging Media Programming Peer Group (replacing the Interactive Media peer group) with requirements that better reflect the current media landscape.
The Interactive Media Peer Group was formed over 20 years ago to provide a home in the Television Academy for the burgeoning new and digital media pioneers of television, with a focus on advancing interactive arts and sciences and fostering creative leadership in interactive media. In the two decades since, the television industry has undergone significant change with all media effectively having gone digital and the definition of what constitutes interactive programming shifting.
Because of these dramatic changes, in 2021 the Television Academy's Board of Governors voted to form a committee to evaluate the composition and qualifications for the Interactive Media Peer Group to ensure both the peer group and the Academy were reflecting and representing the future evolution of the television industry.
The Academy's Board of Governors has now approved the committee's recommendation to reorganize the Interactive Media Peer Group as the Emerging Media Programming Peer Group, which represents professionals from across the industry who create or have an impact on emerging media content, such as: virtual, alternate, mixed or extended reality interactive storytelling; viewer-driven narratives, storylines and sequences of content consumption; and multi-platform and/or metaverse storytelling. Revised membership requirements for both active and associate membership are available here.
The reorganization of the Emerging Media Programming Peer Group is effective Jan. 1, 2023, and the Academy is currently developing a timeline to elect new governors for the peer group, enabling representation in the boardroom in the new year.