The Television Academy and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced Thursday the recipients of their respective 2026 Emmy Awards recognizing achievements in television engineering, science and technology.
The awards recognize individuals, companies and organizations for developments in television engineering, science and technology that have affected television production, recording, transmission or reception.
The awards ceremony will be held Oct. 14 at the Television Academy’s Saban Media Center in North Hollywood.
Barry B. Zegel will receive the Charles F. Jenkins Lifetime Achievement Award for decades of leadership in television engineering, infrastructure, standards and operations. Zegel spent his career at CBS, eventually becoming senior vice president and general manager of CBS Television City, and helped guide the industry’s transition to high-definition television.
Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment Inc. will receive the Philo T. Farnsworth Corporate Achievement Award for more than 80 years of work in camera support equipment for television and motion picture productions.
Engineering, Science & Technology Emmy Awards from the Television Academy will go to Adobe Inc. for the development of Adobe Premiere; Avid Technology for Avid DNx; Benjamin Graf of Accentize for Chameleon; James Robinson of Hitomi for MatchBox Glass; Roland Hathaway, Darcey Crownshaw, Frank Balzer and Dean Hathaway of Snow Business USA for Snowbase; Starlink Services LLC, a subsidiary of Space Exploration Technologies Corp., for Starlink; and Curt O. Schaller and Dr. Roman Foltyn for the Trinity 2 Hybrid Camera Stabilizer System.
Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards from NATAS will recognize developments including web-based, frame-accurate remote monitoring systems for distributed broadcast production; FPV drone camera systems for live sports coverage; standardization of ATSC 3.0 NextGen TV for digital broadcasting; AMWA NMOS discovery, registration and connection; SMPTE hybrid cable format conversion and power injection; and AI-based face replacement and performance-preserving post-production transformation.
NATAS also announced nominees for its competitive Excellence in Production Technology — Application category, which recognizes innovative uses of applied science and engineering products in television production. Nominees are ABC News’ “Good Morning America,” Prime Vision NFL’s “Thursday Night Football” and Disney+’s “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.”
The announcement comes as the Television Academy and NATAS explore reunification. The organizations previously combined their engineering and technology awards ceremonies for the 2014 awards season.