NBC, ABC Win 10 Emmys Each in News, Documentaries

NBC, which led the field in the nighttime Emmy Awards last Sunday with 20, came back Wednesday night to tie ABC for top honors in the Emmys for news and documentary programming. Each network won 10, with eight of NBC’s going to “Dateline NBC.”

CBS trailed with seven Emmys, but among those were the awards for best general coverage of a single breaking news story by a program, which went to “48 Hours” for an installment called “America’s Mission,” and by a regularly scheduled newscast, which went to “CBS Evening News” for coverage of the funeral of Yitzhak Rabin.

“CBS Evening News” also picked up an Emmy for its reporting on the assassination of Rabin in the category of instant coverage of a single breaking news story in a regularly scheduled newscast.

The News and Documentary Emmys, covering 1995 programming, were handed out by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in ceremonies in New York City. PBS tied CBS with seven awards, followed by A&E; and TBS with three each, the Discovery Channel and Cinemax with two apiece and CNN, the Learning Channel and the syndicated “Save Our Streets” with one each.

Other programs besides “Dateline NBC” that received more than one Emmy were ABC’s “PrimeTime Live” and TBS’ “National Geographic Explorer” with three each and ABC’s “20/20,” NBC’s “National Geographic Special,” “CBS Reports” and “CBS News Sunday Morning” with two each.

CNN and ABC were honored for instant coverage of a single breaking news story for their reporting on the Oklahoma City bombing.

One of “Dateline NBC’s” Emmys also came for the Oklahoma City disaster in the category for magazine-show segments that dealt with a single breaking news story. “Dateline” also won three others in that category.

Emmys for investigative journalism in a full-length program went to A&E;’s “The Plague Monkeys” and CBS’ “Legacy of Shame.”

The Learning Channel’s “Killer Virus” and PBS’ “High Stakes in Cyberspace” won Emmys for coverage of a continuing news story, while the Discovery Channel’s “Carrier: Fortress at Sea” was named best informational or cultural program.