The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), also colloquially known as the Television Academy, is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the television industry in the United States. It is a 501(c)(6) non-profit organization founded in 1946, the organization presents the Primetime Emmy Awards, an annual ceremony honoring achievement in U.S. primetime television.
Syd Cassyd considered television a tool for education and envisioned an organization that would act outside the "flash and glamor" of the industry and become an outlet for "serious discussion" and award the industry's "finest achievements".[2] Envisioning a television counterpart of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Cassyd founded the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in 1946 in conjunction with leaders of the early television industry who had gathered at a meeting he organized.[3]
Cassyd's academy in Los Angeles merged with a New York academy founded by Ed Sullivan in 1955 to form the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The Los Angeles chapter broke away from NATAS in 1977, keeping the Primetime and Los Angeles Emmys.[4]
In 2014, alongside its Hall of Fame induction ceremony and announced plans to expand its headquarters, the organization announced that it had changed its public brand to the Television Academy, with a new logo designed by Siegel + Gale. The new branding was intended to downplay the organization's antiquated formal name in favor of a more straightforward identity, and features a separating line (typically used to separate the organization's wordmark from a simplified image of the Emmy Award statuette) used to symbolize a screen, and also portrayed as a "portal".[5][6]
In 2016, producer Hayma Washington was elected chairman and CEO of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, becoming the first African-American to hold the position.[7]
The courtyard and Emmy Award statue at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences facility on Lankershim
In 1949, the Television Academy held the first Emmy Awards ceremony, an annual event created to recognize excellence in U.S. television programming, although the initial event was restricted to programming from the Los Angeles area. The name "Emmy" was derived from "Immy", a nickname for the image orthicon camera tube, which aided the progress of modern television. The word was feminized as "Emmy" to match the statuette, which depicted a winged woman holding an atom.
In addition to recognizing outstanding programming through its Primetime Emmy Awards, the Television Academy publishes the award-winning emmy magazine and through the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation, is responsible for the Archive of American Television, annual College Television Awards, Fred Rogers Memorial Scholarship, acclaimed student internships and other educational outreach programs.
The Television Academy Hall of Fame was founded by a former president of the ATAS, John H. Mitchell (1921–1988),[10] to honor individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to U.S. television. Inductions are not held every year.
^"History". Television Academy. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
^"Syd Cassyd, 91; Envisioned TV Academy". The New York Times. February 11, 2000. Archived from the original on 2022-08-15. Retrieved February 10, 2021. Syd Cassyd, whose idea it was to found the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, which gives the Emmy Awards, died on Friday at his home in Los Angeles.... Mr. Cassyd was working for a trade publication when he had the idea, and in 1946 he organized a meeting of influential figures in the world of television. He believed that television, then in its infancy, had the potential for enormous growth, so the purpose of the 1946 gathering was to talk about creating an organization like the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which had been giving the Academy Awards, known as Oscars, since 1927.
^"History". Emmys.com. Archived from the original on 15 June 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
