�AMERICAN IDOL��S NIGEL LYTHGOE AND KEN WARWICK NAMED EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS FOR �59TH PRIMETIME EMMY� AWARDS�

Telecast Airs Live Sunday, Sept. 16, on FOX

Veteran television producers Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick, executive producers of television�s No. 1 series � Emmy-nominated AMERICAN IDOL � have been appointed executive producers for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences� 59TH PRIMETIME EMMY� AWARDS, which will air live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles Sunday, Sept. 16 (8:00-11:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) on FOX.

The announcement was made jointly today by Dick Askin, Chairman and CEO, Television Academy, and Peter Liguori, President of Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company.

�Nigel and Ken have consistently raised the creative bar with their innovative work on AMERICAN IDOL and we believe they will continue to do so during their first Emmy telecast,� said Liguori.

"Nigel and Ken are terrific producers, and their expertise in live event programming will be a major asset to this year's Primetime Emmy telecast," said Askin.

�The Emmy Awards not only celebrate excellence in television, the Emmy Awards are excellent television. Star power, production values, drama, suspense, tears and euphoria, just like an AMERICAN IDOL finale. While appreciating the traditional and maintaining the high standards of past Emmy Award ceremonies, we will also be recognizing the ever-changing landscape of today�s successful television. It is a great honor and a wonderful challenge,� said Lythgoe.

�I am thrilled to be invited by the Television Academy to produce this year�s Emmy telecast. Shows with the prestige of the Emmys are a producer�s dream, so I am really looking forward to the challenge and am confident we will produce for FOX the best Emmys to date,� said Warwick.

In addition to his duties as executive producer of AMERICAN IDOL, Nigel Lythgoe co-created the FOX summer hit SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, on which he serves as a judge. He also starred with Warwick in their own reality series, �Corkscrewed,� which aired on Fox Reality Channel in 2006.

Lythgoe, currently the president of 19 Television, joined 19 as chief executive in 2001 from London Weekend Television, where he was controller of entertainment and comedy. Lythgoe is one of the UK�s most respected TV talents and has a host of major credits, including the UK series �Pop Idol,� �Gladiators� and six Royal Variety Shows. His other executive-producer credits include all five previous seasons of AMERICAN IDOL as well as �American Juniors,� �All American Girl� and the specials �An American Idol Christmas� and �World Idol.�

BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Award winner Ken Warwick is FremantleMedia�s senior executive producer on worldwide productions of the �Idol� format, including AMERICAN IDOL, �World Idol� and �An American Idol Christmas.� Warwick was series producer for the UK show �Pop Idol,� the IDOL inception which received Europe�s top television award, the Golden Rose of Montreux (the Rose d�Or) and four National Television Awards for Best Entertainment Program. Warwick has also produced primetime entertainment shows both for the BBC and ITV in the UK, among them �Gladiators,� Royal Tournament coverage and �Don�t Try This At Home� for ITV. In summer 2006, Warwick also executive-produced �America�s Got Talent.�

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences was founded in 1946 just one month after network television was born. It is a non-profit organization devoted to the advancement of telecommunications arts and sciences and to fostering creative leadership in the telecommunications industry. In addition to recognizing outstanding programming through its Emmy Award, the Television Academy publishes Emmy Magazine and stages many industry-related programs, services and year-round events for the television community.

Nominations for the 59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards will be announced Thursday, July 19, at 5:35 AM PT from the Television Academy�s Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre in North Hollywood.