The Television Academy announced on Tuesday that Ed Bradley, Ted Danson, Sheila Nevins, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, Ted Sarandos, and Jean Smart will be inducted into the TV Hall of Fame. The 28th ceremony will be held during the Televerse Festival in Los Angeles on Aug 13.
Ed Bradley was among the first Black journalists to achieve national prominence and the first to serve as White House correspondent for CBS News, his broadcast home for four decades. Following a stint as a weekend anchor of the CBS Evening News, Bradley joined 60 Minutes in 1981 and would remain a fixture at the newsmagazine until his death in 2006 at the age of 65. He received 20 Emmys over the course of his career along with the a Peabody Award.
Ted Danson is a two-time Emmy Award winner for his long-running role on Cheers and an 18-time nominee. His regular series roles have included Becker, C.S.I., Curb Your Enthusiasm, Damages, Fargo, The Good Place, and A Man on the Inside. He and wife Mary Steenburgen also received the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award.
Sheila Nevins is one of the most influential producers in documentary filmmaking. She was both president of HBO Documentary Films and head of MTV Documentary Films division. She has produced more than 1,500 documentaries, including Spike Lee’s Peabody-winning Hurricane Katrina documentary, If God Is Willing and da Creek Don’t Rise, as well as For Neda, Baghdad ER, Section 60 Arlington National Cemetery, and To Die in Jerusalem. She has worked on productions that won 36 News and Documentary Emmy Awards, 44 Peabody Awards, and 27 Academy Awards. She has won 32 individual Primetime Emmy Awards, more than any other person.
Trey Parker and Matt Stone are animators, writers, producers, directors, and songwriters best known for co-creating South Park and the musical The Book of Mormon. South Park has received 18 Emmy nominations and five wins for Best Animated Program. They are also both Tony and Grammy winners, and Parker was Oscar-nominated for co-writing the Best Song nominee “Blame Canada” from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.
Ted Sarandos has been responsible for all content operations at Netflix since 2000. He led the company’s transition into original content production beginning in 2013 with the launch of the series House of Cards, Arrested Development, and Orange Is the New Black. Other series under his leadership have included Bridgerton, The Crown, Ozark, The Queen’s Gambit, and Stranger Things.
Jean Smart has won seven Emmy Awards for roles on Frasier, Samantha Who?, and Hacks. Her television credits have also included Designing Women, Mare of Easttown, Watchmen, and Fargo. For her career, she has received 14 Emmy nominations and is in second place for performance wins, just behind the eight won by Cloris Leachman and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Since its founding in 1984, the TV Hall of Fame has honored individuals whose lasting contributions have shaped the medium — either through remarkable single accomplishments or a career of pioneering work. The inaugural event in 1984 featured the inductions of actress and executive Lucille Ball, actor Milton Berle, writer Paddy Chayefsky, producer and writer Norman Lear, journalist and host Edward R. Murrow, CBS founder William S. Paley, and NBC founder David Sarnoff. The most recent class in 2025 included actors Viola Davis and Henry Winkler, host and writer Conan O’Brien, producer and director Don Mischer, producer, director, and writer Ryan Murphy, and composer Mike Post.
