Madden's the man of the moment at Sports Emmys

ESPN earned a network high 29 nominations for the Sports Emmy Awards announced Thursday, and combined with sister net ESPN2’s 17 noms, the Bristol, Conn.-based cabler dominated all small-screen competitors.

In announcements made by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences from the L.A. Live complex in downtown Los Angeles, HBO fared well with 21 noms, while NBC led all broadcasters with 15. Fox was right behind the Peacock with 13.

ESPN’s newsmagazine “E: 60” garnered the most nominations for any show, earning seven nods. Tied for second with five was Showtime’s “Inside the NFL” and HBO’s “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel.”

Longtime NFL analyst and former Oakland Raiders coach John Madden was named the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

“John Madden’s larger-than-life talent has extended far beyond the NFL broadcast booth. He’s influenced how we watch, how we talk, and how we feel about pro football,” said Steve Ulrich, exec director of the Sports Emmy Awards.

For best play-by-play announcer, nominees were Mike Emrick and Al Michaels (NBC), Mike Breen (ABC). Joe Buck (Fox), Jim Nantz (CBS) and Mike Tirico (ESPN).

Top event analyst noms went to Cris Collinsworth (NBC), Jon Gruden (ESPN), Jim Kaat (MLB Network), Tim McCarver (Fox), Phil Simms (CBS) and Jeff Van Gundy (ABC).

“Real Sports” dominated the sports journalism category with four of the five nominations while ESPN had three of the five slots for top daily studio show — “Outside the Lines First Report,” “Pardon the Interruption” and “SportsCenter.”

Weekly studio shows were more spread out among the nets: “College GameDay” (ESPN), “Fox NFL Sunday,” “Inside the NBA on TNT,” Inside the NFL” (Showtime/CBS) and “MLB Network’s Studio 42 With Bob Costas.”

Awards will be handed out April 26 at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York.