Emmy Awards

Emmy Awards, statuettes awarded annually in the United States to honor excellence in the television industry. The name Emmy is a derivative of Immy, the nickname of the image orthicon tube, an integral part of early television cameras. The Emmy Awards were first presented in 1949. They are administered by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS) and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), nonprofit organizations best known for their supervision of the Emmys. ATAS oversees the awards for shows broadcast between the hours of 6 pm and 2 am, and NATAS supervises awards for daytime, sports, and news and documentary programming. Award categories include those for programs, performers, directors, and writers, as well as those for technical work, such as art direction, costume design, editing, and sound mixing.

Members of ATAS and NATAS select nominees from all submitted entries. While all active members of these organizations may nominate programs, nominations within specific categories may only be made by others employed in those same categories—that is, only performers may nominate performers, only directors may nominate directors, and so forth. In most categories, Emmy winners are chosen from the list of nominees by select judging panels composed of industry peers. All panelists are required to view all nominated material before they cast their votes. The final tallies are compiled by the academies' accounting firms and announced before a worldwide television audience in an annual broadcast.

Reviewed by: Academy of Television Arts and Sciences