Today‘s Al Roker and filmaker Jon Else will receive Lifetime Achievement honors at the 46th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards.
Roker will be recognized for his career in broadcast journalism during the news ceremony on June 25. Else will be honored for his contributions to documentary filmmaking at the cocumentary ceremony on June 26.
“These Lifetime Achievement honors recognize Al Roker and Jon Else for their enduring contributions to the television industry,” said Adam Sharp, President and CEO of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, in a statement. “We honor not only their remarkable work in front of and behind the camera, but also the lasting impact they have made on audiences, the industry and generations of storytellers. NATAS proudly celebrates their commitment to excellence and pivotal roles in shaping the television landscape.”
“This is such an incredible honor. I’m just another indication of either an end-of-career or end-of-life award,” said Roker. “Either way, I am so thankful to be the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Emmy and thank everyone that I’ve worked with who held me up and helped me achieve this great honor.“
“It took me by surprise—What?!?!—completely humbling, and I’m honored,” said Else. “Emmys were the last thing I expected when filming little documentaries 50 years ago. I have to say that whatever I’ve done in all these years of making television would never have been remotely possible without the incredible support from the devoted men and women of public broadcasting, and to them, I am forever grateful. And the secret of it all was to always work with crazy smart and crazy skilled collaborators.”
Roker is the weather and feature anchor of NBC News’ Today as well as the co-host of the third hour of Today. He joined in January 1996. From July 2009 to September 2015, Roker served as co-host of the morning show “Wake Up with Al” on the Weather Channel. Until January 2000, he also served as the weekday weather forecaster for News Channel 4’s early evening newscast “Live at 5” on WNBC-TV, NBC’s flagship owned and operated station in New York City. Roker also co-hosts Sirius XM’s “Off the Rails” with Dylan Dreyer and Sheinelle Jones.
Else is a documentary filmmaker best known for The Day After Trinity: J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb and Cadillac Desert. He was series producer and cinematographer for Henry Hampton’s Eyes On The Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years. His most recent feature documentary Land of Gold, about the California Gold Rush, premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was broadcast nationwide primetime PBS Great Performances in 2024.
The 46th Annual News & Documentary Emmys will feature 66 categories across news and documentary programming. Both ceremonies will take place at the Palladium Times Square in New York City and stream live on NATAS’ dedicated viewing platform—available at watch.theemmys.tv and via The Emmys apps on iOS, tvOS, Android, FireTV, and Roku.
