Oprah, Katie Lead News Emmy Nominations

By Stephen M. Silverman

07/09/2004 at 01:35 PM EDT

Oprah Winfrey and Katie Couric were among the prominent names to come out of Thursday's announcement of this year's list of news and documentary Emmy Award nominations.

Syndicated daytime queen Oprah was named for her special about her Christmas trip to Africa, while the NBC Today co-anchor was cited for her exclusive interview with an attacked Central Park jogger.

PBS, however, was the most honored, with 24 nominations, including four of the five in the running for best documentary. ABC News received 21 nods, mostly for Primetime Thursday (six nominations). World News Tonight with Peter Jennings is up for five, more than any other evening newscast, Variety reports.

Oprah's ABC Primetime Thursday interview with Diane Sawyer is also up for a news Emmy.

CBS News, cited for its breaking news coverage of Saddam Hussein's capture, received 19 nominations, with six of those going to CBS News Sunday Morning. 60 Minutes followed with five.

Another strong showing was made by Cinemax (which, like PEOPLE, is part of Time Warner). The premium cable network earned 12 nominations, including those for documentaries about history, the arts and culture – such as the film about the National Spelling Bee, Spellbound.

The 25th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Award ceremony will be held Sept. 13 at Manhattan's Marriott Marquis Hotel and, for the first time, will be televised on the Discovery Times Channel. The Primetime Emmy Awards are scheduled for Sept. 19.

Also set to be honored at the event will be outgoing NBC anchor Tom Brokaw, who is retiring from his nightly news desk in December.