Sports Emmys To Honor David Hill With Lifetime Achievement Award

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences will present David Hill with a Lifetime Achievement honor at the 46th Annual Sports Emmy Awards ceremony in May.

Hill has spent a lifetime in the medium as a journalist, documentary producer/director, Emmy Award-winning sports producer and executive, as well as a network chief and independent producer.

In late 1993, after Fox gained the rights to televise the NFL’s NFC package, Rupert Murdoch dispatched Hill to the U.S. to serve as the first President of Fox Sports. He launched the division in just eight months. In addition, Hill created football’s on-field first-down marker and the now ubiquitous constant score and clock graphic (or Fox Box).

Hill also directly or indirectly oversaw the launch of Fox Sports Net, FoxSports.com, Big Ten Network and Fox Sports 1, among others. Hill was described by Murdoch as a “dynamic and imaginative leader who has changed the experience of nearly all major sports on three continents. Whether launching Sky Sports, the Fox network, Fox Sports or our regional sports networks, we owe him an enormous debt.” 

“David’s numerous contributions to sports broadcasting have impacted the way sports have been and will be viewed around the world forever,” said Adam Sharp, President and CEO of NATAS in a statement. “His innovations, including the ‘Fox Box’ Score Bug concept, have transformed the way viewers can watch games. He essentially introduced Augmented Reality to television screens decades before that phase was even coined. As an Executive, he has broadened the horizons of sports media, opening doors to a new generation of television leaders.”

“Totally blown away – even more so because it’s from my peers,” quipped Hill.

In 2017, Hill became the first executive/producer since Roone Arledge in 2001 to be honored with the Pete Rozelle Radio/Television Award from the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Sports Video Group’s Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2014.

Hill also received Lifetime Achievement honors at the 63rd Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards in 2012 and the New York Festivals Television & Film Awards in 2016. 

The 46th Annual Sports Emmy Awards will take place on Tuesday, May 20 in New York City.