CableACE Award
The CableACE Award (earlier known as the ACE Awards; ACE was an acronym for Award for Cable Excellence) was an award that was given from 1978 to 1997 to honor excellence in American cable television programming.
It was created by the National Cable Television Association to serve as a cable television counterpart to the Primetime Emmy Awards, which, before their 40th ceremony in 1988, did not recognize cable programming. The actual trophy was a large trophy made of glass blown and cut into the shape of the Ace of Spades. By 1997, the Emmys had long included cable television programming, making the CableACEs redundant. In April of 1998, NCTA members voted to end the ceremony as cable programming began to meet parity, and at times overtake broadcast competition within the categories of the Primetime Emmys.
At one time, the live awards show was carried in a simulcast of as many as twelve cable networks in some years. The last few years found the ceremony awarded solely to one network, usually Lifetime or TBS.
