WSB-TV wins top Emmy; 10 Emmys each go to WXIA-TV, WAGA-TV

WSB also won nine total Emmys, including three connected with projects headed by Andrew Young.

But who had the most Emmys of the night? It was a tie. Scrappy NBC affiliate WXIA-TV under the helm of new news director Ellen Crooke took home ten, and so did Fox 5's WAGA-TV.

Among the winners handed out Saturday (I was out of town and missed out on the festivities) included:

- Jaye Watson (WXIA-TV) , best on-air general assignment reporter.

- Ross Cavitt (WSB-TV), best live on-air reporter

- Jerome Jurenovich (Fox Sports South), best on-air sports reporter (he seems to win every year, doesn't he?) and tie for bets sports anchor with a non-Atlanta anchor.

- Joanne Feldman (WAGA-TV) – best weather anchor, beating out David Chandley of WSB-TV, last year's winner.

- State of Stimulus: Tracking the Money (WXIA-TV) – Best continuous coverage of a story

- Hit and Run (WXIA-TV's Matt Pearl, Doug Richards, Dan Reilly) – Best spot news story

- September Floods (WXIA-TV) – Best team coverage

WGCL-TV garnered a  relatively sparse two Emmys (out of 10 nominations): one for on-air performer/narrator for Corinna Allen (over last year's winner Peachtree TV's Jeff Johnson) and another for outstanding news promo for its "Great Moments in Tough Questions History." (See a sample below)

Emmy's probably don't translate into more dollars or viewers but help burnish a station's reputation within the industry and bolster internal morale, said Michael Castengera, a broadcast news consultant and teacher at the Grady College of Journalism at the University of Georgia.

“It’s nice for promotion and an Emmy is at least something people recognize,” he said. “But it’s more an internal thing to make the employees feel good.”