History of the Emmy Awards Timeline

In the 1950s, the Emmy Awards became a national event honoring programs aired nationwide, expanding beyond their original focus on Los Angeles-area productions.

The first daytime-themed Emmy Awards were given out at the primetime ceremony in 1972, marking early recognition of achievement in national daytime programming.

The International Emmy Awards have been presented annually by the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (IATAS) since 1973, honoring excellence in television programming produced outside the United States.

Image source: International Emmy Awards

In 1974, the first Daytime Emmy ceremony was held to specifically honor achievement in national daytime programming.

With the rise of cable television in the 1980s, cable programs first became eligible for the Primetime Emmy Awards in 1988, opening the awards to non-broadcast networks.

Following cable's eligibility at the Primetime Emmys in 1988, cable programs first became eligible for the Daytime Emmy Awards in 1989.

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.

Image source: Academy of Television Arts & Sciences

In 1977, due to various conflicts, the ATAS and the NATAS broke ties, after which each organization began handling its own set of Emmy ceremonies.

The Grammy Awards went gender-neutral in 2012, while the Daytime Emmy Awards introduced a single Outstanding Younger Performer in a Drama Series category in 2019 to replace their two gender-specific younger actor and actress categories.

The ATAS retired its primetime children's television categories in 2020, agreeing with the NATAS to move all such award categories to the Daytime Emmys, citing confusion over whether children's programs should fall under the Daytime or Primetime awards due to streaming proliferation.

Image source: Children's and Family Emmy Awards

In 2011, ABC cancelled the soap operas All My Children and One Life to Live, selling their licensing rights to production company Prospect Park so they could continue on streaming television, prompting changes at the Daytime Emmys.

Image source: All My Children

Prompted by ABC's sale of All My Children and One Life to Live to Prospect Park for streaming continuation, NATAS created a new Daytime Emmys category for the 2013 ceremony to honor web-only series.

The ATAS also began accepting original online-only streaming television programs in 2013, reflecting the growing prominence of streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon in prestige television.

On November 17, 2021, the NATAS announced that it would begin to present the Children's & Family Emmy Awards beginning in 2022, for excellence in children's and family television.

In December 2021, the ATAS and the NATAS announced a major realignment of the national Emmy Award ceremonies in response to the growth of streaming television programs, blurring the lines in determining which shows fall under Daytime or Primetime.

Among the major changes announced in December 2021, daytime dramas would remain in the Daytime Emmys while most other scripted dramas and comedies would move to the Primetime Emmys.

As part of the December 2021 realignment, all children's programming would move to the newly created Children's & Family Emmys that the NATAS had previously announced in November 2021.

As part of the December 2021 realignment, morning shows would move from the Daytime Emmys to the News & Documentary Emmys.

Image source: News and Documentary Emmy Awards

Under the December 2021 realignment, talk shows would now be divided between the Daytime and Primetime Emmys based on 'format and style characteristics reflective of current programming in the daytime or late night space'.

The realignment of game shows and instructional programming categories was determined later in 2023, completing the restructuring announced in December 2021.