The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced today that beginning in 2022 the “Daytime Emmy Awards” will no longer play host to the Children’s & Family categories. The categories will now be given their own awards ceremony as part of the first standalone expansion for the Emmy Awards since the launch of the “Sports Emmy Awards” and the “News & Documentary Emmy Awards” in 1979.
The change to its own standalone ceremony comes as the organization has seen in the past two years growth of 23% in content expansion for the segment which is currently the fastest-growing genre that NATAS awards. More specifically, the Individual Achievement in Animation category received the largest number of entries across all NATAS contests, with 300 submissions last year alone. In fact, the news also comes as the Television Academy, which oversees the “Primetime Emmy Awards,” and NATAS agreed to consolidate all children’s categories under the purview of NATAS.
Seven new categories were created in recent years in recognition of the growing trend, particularly in the preschool sector, which will now be among the categories to soon be represented by the standalone competition. Winners will continue to be voted upon by both NATAS and Television Academy members in all Children’s and Family categories.
“NATAS has always been a leader in recognizing and celebrating excellence in our industry, and nothing is excelling and expanding more dramatically than the children’s and family community. Recent years have seen explosive growth in the quantity and quality of children’s and family programming, and now is the perfect time to acknowledge and honor this impactful content with a dedicated competition and celebration,” said Adam Sharp, President and CEO, NATAS.
NATAS membership consists of more than 18,000 broadcast and media professionals represented in 19 regional chapters across the United States.
Categories, eligibility rules and the call for entries for the Children’s & Family Emmys will be announced separately in 2022.