PBS was the big winner at the News and Documentary Emmys, collecting six at the National Television Academy awards banquet in New York Monday night.
On the eve of the late ABC anchor Peter Jenning's memorial service in New York, his World News Tonight topped all evening newscasts with three Emmys (Rather's show got one, Brokaw's none), helping ABC to a three-way tie for second place in the statue totals with 4.
The range of ABC stories saluted and their international datelines: Iraq (war), Darfur (genocide), Beslan (school massacre), also clearly reflect Jennings' imprint.
CBS and NBC also collected four awards apiece, including one to Rathers' newscast for its Enron reporting on the Evening News.
NBC's Dateline dominated the news mags, with three Emmys; a special on Ronald Reagan's death accounted for the other NBC winner.
CBS' maligned and now-canceled 60 Minutes II got a farewell present, an Emmy not for its National Guard story, but for its international Garden of Eden piece about an untouched piece of Gabon, on the West Coast of Africa, and the gorillas that live there.
It was something of a night for the evening news old guard, with Dan Rather saluted for 55 years in journalism, including kudos from Tom Brokaw, and Jennings saluted as well.
Documentary powerhouse HBO collected 3 Emmys, Cinemax, 2, Discovery Times Channel and Discovery Channel 2 apiece, and one apiece for History, MSNBC and Sundance.
Regional winners were WABC New York (spot news) and WCAU Philadelphia (investigative reporting). Because their broadcasts did not air nationally, they received a plaque rather than an Emmy
