“American Ninja Warrior” (ANW), a member of the SASUKE family of sports entertainment programs by TBS, has been nominated for an Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Reality-Competition Program. Produced locally in the US, ANW finds itself in in the company of five other big hit programs nominated in the category: “Dancing With The Stars” (ABC), “The Voice” (NBC), “The Amazing Race” (CBS), “Top Chef” (Bravo), and “Project Runway” (Lifetime).

An awards program of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the annual Emmy Awards (or simply “Emmys”) recognizes outstanding television programs in a wide range of categories. Related awards include the Daytime Emmy Awards and International Emmy Awards. Also known as the Primetime Emmy Awards because they honor programs that air in prestigious prime time (8:00 to 11:00 p.m.), the Emmys are considered the pinnacle of television achievement in the US.

For its programs in Japan, TBS has received several International Emmy nominations, including for “Doors” (2008), “Real Escape Game TV” (2014), and “MOZU Season 1 〜Night Cry of the MOZU〜” (2015). In addition, “BrainSurge,” the US version of the TBS program “Brain Survivor” in Japan, was nominated for a Daytime Emmy in 2012. Despite multiple nominations, a TBS program has yet to win an award in the Emmy family. “American Ninja Warrior” is only the second program based on a Japanese format to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy (the first was “Shark Tank,” which was based on “Dragons' Den” by Nippon TV).

The 68th Emmy Awards will be held on September 18 at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

■ About Tokyo Broadcasting System Television, Inc. (TBS)

With over 50 years of experience licensing programming overseas, Tokyo Broadcasting System Television, Inc. (TBS) has distributed programs of all genres – dramas, anime, documentaries, formats, movies – totaling several tens of thousands of hours of programming in over 160 countries worldwide and has firmly established its presence as a major content provider in the global arena. TBS is one of the most innovative broadcasters in creating variety formats, having licensed nearly 200 localized versions with several thousand episodes being produced including global hits like America’s Funniest Home Videos, Takeshi’s Castle/MXC, Sasuke/Ninja Warrior, etc. Looking ahead, TBS aims to further raise its profile overseas by expanding sales around the world of TBS hit shows and take advantage of new opportunities in the digital market place.