The third day of NATPE Miami 2021 featured the announcement of The Iris Awards Nominees. The annual presentation serves as a recognition of excellence, leadership, and achievement in local and national television programming.
The first honoree to accept his award and provide a gratitude speech was co-host of Entertainment Tonight, Kevin Frazier, who won the award for Career Achievement. Frazier described the various expertise stages of his career. In light of its 40th anniversary, the hosts of “Entertainment Tonight,” Erin Johnson alongside Frazier, accepted a Harvest Award for Excellence in Production on the show’s behalf.
The TV hosts also described the current status of production of the show as it navigates through the pandemic, with employees still working at home. The show, which has aired more than 10,300 episodes in 114 countries, shot in over 200,000 sets, and featured over 100,00-star interviews, has not missed a day since the pandemic was declared.
Kelly Clarkson also spoke during the awards after receiving the 2021 Artist Awards for Excellence in Performance. She spoke about the challenges of launching her recently debuted television talk show, “Kelly Clarkson Show” during the pandemic and described the purpose of her show as a way of coming together and sharing others’ stories during a difficult period. Lastly, President of Hearst Television Jordan Wertleib accepted the NATPE Iris Lew Klein leadership award, named in honor of NATPE’s founder. The award was introduced by Klein’s wife to the media expert.