Frost, Schächter to be Honored by International Academy

NEW YORK: The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has announced that Sir David Frost will receive this year’s Founders Award, while ZDF’s director-general, Markus Schächter, will be honored with the Directorate Award.

The Awards will be presented at the 37th International Emmy Awards on November 23 in New York City. 

Frost is an acclaimed television personality who is best known for his interviews with former U.S. President Richard Nixon, which were the basis for last year’s Oscar-nominated movie Frost/Nixon. He has been producing and hosting his own shows for more than four decades, conducting a host of high-profile interviews. He will soon embark on his fourth year of Frost Over The World for Al Jazeera English.

Bruce L. Paisner, the president & CEO of The International Academy, commented: “Sir David Frost has been in the front line of television and entertainment for the last 40 year. His personal contributions to satire and political programming as well as his business acumen make him a defining figure of broadcasting and The International Academy is honored to be presenting him with the 2009 International Emmy Founders Award in recognition of his monumental career.”

Frost called the honor a "crowning moment for me, bringing together, as it does, the United States, the United Kingdom and international television. When I began my television career in London in 1962 with TW3 I could never have imagined I would one day be receiving an Award like this in New York, a city that means so much to me.”

The Directorate Award is given to organizations or individuals for their outstanding contributions, over a period of time, to the arts and sciences of international television. Schächter was selected by the awards committee for his leadership of ZDF for the last seven years and to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany. 

"ZDF’s global reputation as a provider of high-quality television is testimony to Markus Schächter’s vision for his channel—to combine excellence in programming with audience success,” said Paisner. “As Germany celebrates this 60th anniversary, The International Academy is pleased to be recognizing his outstanding achievements with our 2009 Directorate Award.”

Schächter said: "It is a great honor to receive this reknowned international award. I take it as a recognition of the success that we have achieved in the national as well as the international marketplace. The Directorate Award is a reward for the performance of the ZDF employees who work with dedication and expertise every day to maintain ZDF as one of the leading national and international players."