The Screen Actors Guild Awards, now in its 13th year, received a waiver from the writers' guild, allowing it to use a union writer to prepare scripted remarks for awards presenters. A similar waiver was not granted to the Golden Globes or Oscars.

Jan du Plessis, M-Net's director of channels, is pleased that M-Net is able to bring the SAG Awards to viewers this year. “We felt that after the broadcast of the Golden Globe Awards was cancelled, we had to find an alternative awards show fix for our viewers,” he says.

“Awards shows like the Oscars and Golden Globes always draw large audiences on M-Net, and once we discovered that the Screen Actors Guild Awards had received special dispensation from the writers' guild to go ahead, we moved swiftly to secure the rights to broadcast the show on M-Net”.

This year's ceremony, hosted by Tom Cruise, is set to have a host of firsts – it is the first awards show to be broadcast in the US this year, the first to be attended by Hollywood's elite and also the first show to not be picketed by members of the writers' guild.

The awards will be screened tonight at 10.35pm.

[28 Jan 2008 08:41]

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