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An Emmy Award, or simply Emmy, is a trophy given out during one of the many annual American events or competitions that honor accomplishments in a specific area of the television business. The Emmy is one of the four main entertainment awards in the United States, along with the Grammy (for music), the Oscar (for cinema), and the Tony (for theater) (for theatre). The Primetime Emmy Awards and the Daytime Emmy Awards, which honor exceptional work in American primetime and daytime entertainment programs, respectively, get the most media attention.

Other significant Emmy events include the Primetime Engineering Emmy Awards, which recognize national sports programming, national news and documentary shows, and technology and engineering achievements in television. Throughout the year, regional Emmy Awards are given out around the country to recognize excellence in local and statewide television. Furthermore, the International Emmy Awards recognize excellence in television content created and broadcast outside of the United States.

The Emmy is called from “immy,” a colloquial nickname for the early television camera’s image orthicon tube. The fundamental design shows a winged lady clutching an atom, however the weight and size of the statuette may change according on the Emmy event.

The Emmy Award is presented by three organizations: the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS), the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), and the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (IATSS) (IATAS). The Emmy was initially given out by the ATAS in 1949 to recognize shows produced in the Los Angeles region, before it became a national event in the 1950s to reward programs broadcast all across the country. Over the next two decades, the ATAS, NATAS, and IATAS expanded the award to include other aspects of the television business, with each organization in charge of its own set of Emmy ceremonies.

The Emmy Award was created by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) in Los Angeles as a means of image-building and public relations. On January 25, 1949, at the Hollywood Athletic Club, the inaugural Emmy ceremony was held, although it was only to recognize shows produced and broadcast locally in the Los Angeles region. Shirley Dinsdale holds the distinction of becoming the first woman to receive an Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Television Personality during the first presentation. The term “Emmy” is a French adaptation of the television crew slang term “Immy,” which was previously used to refer to a camera tube called a “image orthicon.”

The ATAS extended the Emmys into a national event in the 1950s, honoring shows that aired on broadcast television across the country. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) was founded in New York City in 1955 to assist members on the East Coast as a sibling institution. While the ATAS continued to have a separate ceremony to recognize shows broadcast locally in Los Angeles, the NATAS formed regional chapters around the country, each with its own local Emmy ceremony honoring local programming.

Originally, the Emmy Awards were only presented once a year to celebrate shows that were nationally aired in the United States. The inaugural Daytime Emmy ceremony was presented in 1974 to recognize excellence in national daytime programming. Other regional Emmy celebrations followed shortly after. In the early 1970s, the International Emmy Awards were founded to recognize television shows produced and first shown outside of the United States. Meanwhile, in the ATAS’s official records, all Emmys given prior to the formation of these distinct, area-specific events are included alongside the Primetime Emmy Awards.

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