Emmy Award

An Emmy Award, or simply Emmy, is a trophy presented at one of the numerous annual American events or competitions that each recognize achievements in a particular sector of the television industry. The two events that receive the most media coverage are the Primetime Emmy Awards and the Daytime Emmy Awards, which recognize outstanding work in American primetime and daytime entertainment programming, respectively. Other notable Emmy events include those honoring national sports programming, national news and documentary shows, and technological and engineering achievements in television, including the Primetime Engineering Emmy Awards. Regional Emmy Awards are also presented throughout the country at various times through the year, recognizing excellence in local and statewide television. In addition, the International Emmy Awards honor excellence in TV programming produced and initially aired outside the United States.

The Emmy is named after "immy", an informal term for the image orthicon tube that was common in early television cameras. Although the weight and dimensions of the statuette may vary among the Emmy events, the basic design depicts a winged woman holding an atom. The Emmy is considered one of the four major American entertainment awards, the others being the Grammy (for music), the Oscar (for film), and the Tony (for theater).

Three related, but separate, organizations present the Emmy Award: the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS), and the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (IATAS). The ATAS first awarded the Emmy in 1949 to honor shows produced in the Los Angeles area before it became a national event in the 1950s to honor programs aired nationwide. Over the next two decades, the ATAS, the NATAS, and the IATAS expanded the award to honor other sectors of the TV industry, with each organization responsible for administering a particular set of Emmy events.

History
The Los Angeles–based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) established the Emmy Award as part of an image-building and public relations opportunity. The first Emmy ceremony took place on January 25, 1949, at the Hollywood Athletic Club, but solely to honor shows produced and aired locally in the Los Angeles area. Shirley Dinsdale has the distinction of receiving the very first Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Television Personality, during that first awards ceremony. The term "Emmy" is a French alteration of the television crew slang term "Immy", the nickname for an "image orthicon", a camera tube once used in TV cameras.

In the 1950s, the ATAS expanded the Emmys into a national event to honor shows aired nationwide on broadcast television. In 1955, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) was formed in New York City as a sister organization to serve members on the East Coast. While the ATAS maintained a separate ceremony to honor shows aired locally in the Los Angeles area, the NATAS established regional chapters throughout the rest of the United States, with each one developing their own local Emmy ceremony for local programming.

Originally, there was only one Emmy event held per year to honor shows nationally broadcast in the United States. In 1974, the first Daytime Emmy ceremony was held to specifically honor achievement in national daytime programming. Other area-specific Emmy events soon followed. Also, the International Emmy Awards, honoring television programs produced and initially aired outside the U.S., was established in the early 1970s. Meanwhile, all Emmys awarded prior to the emergence of these separate, area-specific events are listed along with the Primetime Emmy Awards in the ATAS's official records.

In 1977, due to various conflicts, the ATAS and the NATAS agreed to split ties. However, they also agreed to share ownership of the Emmy statue and trademark, with each responsible for administering a specific set of award events. There was an exception regarding the Engineering Awards (those honoring individuals, companies, or scientific or technical organizations in recognition of significant developments and contributions to the engineering and technological aspects of television): The NATAS continues to administer the Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards, while the ATAS holds the separate Primetime Engineering Emmy Awards.

With the rise of cable television in the 1980s, cable programs first became eligible for the Primetime Emmys in 1988, and the Daytime Emmys in 1989. In 2011, the ABC Television Network cancelled the soap operas All My Children and One Life to Live, and sold the two shows' licensing rights to the production company Prospect Park so they could be continued on web television; this prompted NATAS to create a new Daytime Emmys category for the 2013 ceremony to honor such web-only series. The ATAS also began accepting original online-only web television programs in 2013.

Emmy statuette
The Emmy statuette, depicting a winged woman holding an atom, was designed by television engineer Louis McManus, who used his wife as the model. The ATAS rejected forty-seven proposals before settling on McManus's design in 1948. The statuette "has since become the symbol of the TV Academy's goal of supporting and uplifting the art and science of television: The wings represent the muse of art; the atom the electron of science."

When deciding a name for the award, ATAS founder Syd Cassyd originally suggested "Ike", the nickname for the television iconoscope tube. However, "Ike" was also the popular nickname of World War II hero and future U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and the ATAS members wanted something unique. Finally, television engineer and the third academy president Harry Lubcke suggested the name "Immy", a term commonly used for the image orthicon tube used in the early cameras. After "Immy" was chosen, it was later feminized to Emmy to match their female statuette.

The weight and dimensions of the Emmy statuette vary among the events. Each Primetime Emmy statuette weighs six pounds twelve and a half ounces (3.08 kg), and is made of copper, nickel, silver, and gold. The statue stands 15.5 inches (39 cm) tall with a base diameter of 7.5 inches (19 cm) and weight of 88 ounces (2.5 kg). The Regional Emmy Award statuette is 11.5 inches (29 cm) tall with a base diameter of 5.5 inches (14 cm) and weight of 48 ounces (1.4 kg). Each takes five and a half hours to make and is handled with white gloves to prevent fingerprints. The Primetime Emmy statues are manufactured by R.S. Owens & Company based in Chicago, Illinois, which was also charged with manufacturing the Academy Award statues until 2016, when AMPAS switched to Polich Tallix in Walden, New York. The Regional Emmy Awards are made by both R.S. Owens & Company and Society Awards, a New York-based company that also makes the Golden Globe Awards.

As its trademark owners, the ATAS and the NATAS hold firm rules on the use of the "Emmy" image as well as its name. For example, the Emmy statuette must always appear facing left. Any copyright notice for the statue should read "ATAS/NATAS", listing both academies. Academy members must also obtain permission to use the statue image or name for promotional uses even though they are winners of the award. Furthermore, DVDs of Emmy-winning shows may reference the fact that they received an Emmy, but cannot use the statue image unless it is capable of being removed from all copies one year after the award is presented.