In addition, the International Emmy Awards honor excellence in TV programming produced and initially aired outside the United States.

The Emmy statuette, depicting a winged woman holding an atom, is named after "immy", an informal term for the image orthicon tube that was common in early television cameras.

[1] The Los Angeles–based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) established the Emmy Award as part of an image-building and public relations opportunity.

[1] 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.

[1] The term "Emmy" derives from "Immy", the television industry slang for a TV camera image orthicon tube.

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.

They agreed to share ownership of the Emmy statue and trademark, with each responsible for administering a specific set of award events.

[9] In 2011 ABC 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 streaming television; this prompted NATAS to create a new Daytime Emmys category for the 2013 ceremony to honor such web-only series.

[11] 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.

[12][13] The Emmy statuette, depicting a winged woman holding an atom, was designed by television engineer Louis McManus, who used his wife as the model.

"[14] When deciding a name for the award, ATAS founder Syd Cassyd originally suggested "Ike", the nickname for the television iconoscope tube.

"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.

Each Primetime Emmy statuette weighs six pounds twelve and a half ounces (3.08 kg), and is made of copper, nickel, silver, and gold.

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.

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.

[17][18] Various Emmy events competitions are held annually throughout the calendar year, ranging from honoring nationally televised shows to regionally and locally produced programs.

For example, syndicated shows whose air times vary between media markets may be eligible for both the Daytime and Primetime Emmys, but cannot enter in both.

[24] All the drama acting categories have an additional preliminary voting round called the pre-nominations, where one or two actors from each show is selected to then move on and be considered for the primary nominations for the awards.

The NATAS stated that this new ceremony was needed due to an explosive growth of children's and family programming within the past few years.

[citation needed] Each academy has its own separate panel of highly qualified, experienced engineers in the television industry to determine their respective award recipients.

[35] Originally, each Regional Emmy Awards ceremony primarily focused on only honoring individuals in local news programming.

[1] The regionals have since been expanded to encompass all locally and state to state-produced shows that receive less than fifty percent of the country's viewing audience.

In general, any non-U.S. organization or individual (such as a network, a local or regional television station, producer, director, or writer) may submit a program, regardless of whether they are a member of the IATAS.

College students nationwide can submit productions and receive recognition in such categories as Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Music, Newscasts, and Series.

[40] Any work submitted must include a form signed from a faculty advisor to verify that it was produced for a school related group, project, or class.

[41] Similarly, the National Student Production Awards are presented by the NATAS in recognition of excellence in high school student-produced works.