When the CEO and President of The International Academy of Arts and Sciences comes calling it is time for a pat on the back. So when Bruce Paisner announced that he would be visiting India it was indeed momentous as in its existence for over three decades, India has not been on their radar. But as Paisner says that not only is India shining in the business of television but it is also in many other areas. The process of Emmy judgings are held around the world and Indiantelevision’s Founder and CEO Anil Wanvari hosts the Indian leg. This year the Academy received about 1000 entries from across the world. “India is such a prominent player in the television industry and unfortunately, this is not reflected in the International Emmy Awards competition. We hope more Indian television professionals will get involved with us,” Paisner says. The Indian jurors who judged last year’s semi-final rounds included names like Nivedita Basu, Kavita Kaushik, Kiran Kotrial, Dharam Gulati. Speaking at a press meet Paisner says, “Not only are we expecting more entries from India we are also expecting more Indian actors to present the Emmys. We are also hoping to see more members of our Academy from India.” Talking about the Emmys he informs, “When a producer or broadcaster enters a programme or performance into our competition, they open themselves up to many wonderful opportunities: being nominated or winning an Emmy of course, but also, having their programme watched by jurors from all over the world. It is important to understand that The Academy does not select programmes; the producers and broadcasters need to enter their programmes into the competition. Entries from Latin America have doubled and those from Asia, the Middle East and Africa have grown by more than 50 per cent. Unfortunately, India’s quality programming is vastly underrepresented so far. We look forward to that changing.” And as the buzz around the awards grows guess it’s time for Indian broadcasters and producers to wake up and smell the coffee.