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Do you ever watch the Emmy Awards to see if your favorite television programs or performers win? Have you ever found that your favorite program wasn't even nominated or didn't win when you thought it should have? Have you ever wondered who is actually doing the nominating and voting on these award shows?
The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (or ATAS) gives out the awards for prime-time television programs. To become a member of ATAS, you must work in the television industry. The members of ATAS are divided into 26 peer groups, which are determined by specific areas of expertise in the television industry. The groups include performers, makeup artists and hair stylists, camera and video operators, and directors. The award given by ATAS is called the Emmy.
There are certain criteria that a show must meet to be eligible for an Emmy. People who have worked on eligible shows can nominate themselves by filling out a form and paying a fee. There are several categories in which someone can submit entries, such as animation, music, makeup, writing, and special visual effects.
All the qualified entries are then mailed to academy members. Each peer group member votes in his or her own category—directors vote for directors, performers vote for performers—and every member votes in the program categories, such as best drama and best comedy. Then the ballots are sent to an independent accounting firm to be counted. Entries with the most votes, usually the top five, are announced as nominees.
Judging the nominees and choosing the best in each category is left to academy-member volunteers. These volunteers are assembled according to peer groups, but all of the volunteers vote in the outstanding program categories.
Finally, the volunteers mail their ballots to an accounting firm, which counts them and keeps the results secret until the awards are broadcast.
So the next time you wonder why your favorite show did not win an Emmy, remember that the winners are thanking their peers in the academy, not their audiences, for the votes. If you want to vote directly for your favorite performer or program, you'll have to try the People's Choice Awards or the Teen Choice Awards. Do you think the results will be the same?
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