HBO sold rights to broadcast reruns of The Sopranos to commercial cable TV network A&E for $1 million per episode. They did have to edit certain violent scenes and clean up some language though.
In the weeks leading up to this awards show, HBO and James Gandolfini were embroiled in a very public and nasty contract negotiation. HBO sued James, calling him "greedy" while James counter sued, calling HBO "leaches and vampires"
In 2003, James Gandolfini & HBO became involved in a very nasty and public contract negotiations. James sued HBO and then was countersued by HBO. This happened the week leading up to this award show