Emmy Award

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The Emmy Award is an American television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Oscars.

Three related but separate organizations present Emmy Awards:

the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences honors national prime time entertainment excluding sports;
the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences recognizes daytime, sports, news and documentary programming, and;
the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences honors programming originating outside the United States.

The best-known of the awards are the Primetime Emmys, and the Daytime Emmy Awards, with both having categories classified as Creative Arts Emmys.

History

The first Emmy Awards were presented on January 25, 1949 at the Hollywood Athletic Club. The name "Emmy" was a feminization of "immy", a nickname used for the image orthicon tubes that were common in early television cameras. Shirley Dinsdale has the distinction of receiving the very first Emmy in the first awards ceremony. The Emmy Awards trophies are currently made by a private company with a manufacturing site at the maximum security El Dorado Correctional Facility, in El Dorado, Kansas.

The statuette of a winged woman holding an atom has since become the symbol of the TV Academies' goal of supporting and uplifting the art and science of television: The wings represent the muse of art; the atom the electron of science.

Primetime Emmys

The Primetime Emmys are presented in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming. Ceremonies generally air in mid-September, on the Sunday before the official start of the fall television season, and are currently seen in rotation among the ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX networks.

Daytime Emmys

The Daytime Emmy Awards are presented in recognition of excellence in American daytime television programming. The first daytime-themed Emmy Awards were given out at the primetime ceremony in 1972, but the first separate awards show made just for daytime programming was not held until 1974.

Sports Emmys

The Sports Emmys are presented for excellence in sports programming. The awards ceremony takes place every Spring, usually sometime in the last two weeks in April or the first week in May, and is held on a Monday night in New York City.

Technology and Engineering Emmys

Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards are presented to individuals, companies, or to scientific or technical organizations in recognition for their significant developments and contributions to the technological and engineering aspects of television.

Regional Emmys

There are twenty chapters of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, located across the United States, that conduct regional awards to recognize excellence in all the regional television markets. Because the headquarters of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences are located in Los Angeles, the Academy also handles the Los Angeles area membership and regional awards. These awards are less glamorous than the Prime Time Emmys and are sometimes technical. The Regional Emmy Award is 11.5 inches (29 cm) tall with a base diameter of 5.5 inches (14 cm) and weight of 48 oz (1.4 kg), as opposed to the Primetime Emmy, which stands tall with a base diameter of and weight of 88 oz (2.5 kg).

International Emmys

The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences hands out awards which honor the best of non-US television.

Identifying these recipients can take months, with judging taking place at various international TV festivals. The best two programs from a particular genre in four regions are selected to go to a semifinal round, from which the nominees are derived. Every nominee is screened at a festival in New York the day before the awards ceremony.Previous winners:

Al Gore (Current TV)
Doug Frattallone
Bryan C Singer
Wally Langfellow
Matt Passolt
Bob Crippa
Tom Empy
Top Gear
Stephen Fry
Little Britain

Student Emmys

High school students can submit productions to their region's charter and receive recognition in the categories of News, Arts & Entertainment, Documentary, Public Affairs/Community Service/Public Service, Sports, Technical Achievement and Writing. The school or after-school program attached to the students then receives a plaque with the name of an adult advisor and the student film-makers. Up to one-hundred students are allowed to be attached to an award.

From there a "blue-ribbon" panel judges the winners from each region and awards the National Student Television Award for Excellence.

Other Emmys

National TV newscasts and documentaries
Business and financial reporting
Public Service - for public service announcements and programming to "advance the common good"
The Bob Hope Humanitarian Award - awarded by the Academy Board of Governors