Know The History Of The EMMY Awards
The Emmy is a prestigious award and one of the most recognized in the television industry. Like the film fraternity has the Academy Awards, the music fraternity has the Grammy Awards, the Emmy Awards are the best possible recognition among the television fraternity. It recognizes and nurtures excellence in the television industry. Though this is one of the most scintillating awards in the entire world, this award does have a purpose and a rich history. Let’s head back in time and discover the history of the Emmy Awards.
Presently three bodies own the right to present the Emmy award and the claim over the Emmy statuette. They are the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) and the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (IATAS).
The Emmy Awards were initially started by the ATAS in order to award the local programs that were aired in the Los Angeles area. The first ever Emmy Awards was held on January 25, 1949 at the Hollywood Athletic Club, Los Angeles. And since then there was no looking back. The Emmy Awards then went national and the ATAS established the NATAS in New York to supervise regional television channels and honor excellence in the field. The NATAS expanded slowly and steadily and grew with each chapter, thus covering the entire United States of America at a regional level, whereas the ATAS handled the Emmy Awards at the National level. At an International level, The IATAS started awarding shows and programs that have a global presence.
Though now each of these organizations have separated amicably, The Emmy still aims at recognizing quality performances in the television industry. The statuette of the Emmy Awards is a symbol of the combination of arts and science together. The statuette comprises of a winged woman holding an atom, wherein the wings indicate arts and the atom indicates the science. Thus, the statuette is a symbol of the symbiotic relationship that both the arts and sciences have in the field of television. This model was chosen after discarding 47 models previously. It was first named ‘Immy’ after the early image orthicon camera but later named Emmy keeping in mind the woman figure.
The Emmys may well be one place where the red carpet will be star studded. However, it was a platform that was made not for the stars but for talent because of which the television brings to life a whole lot of entertainment for the people all over the globe.
