NATAS was organized in 1957 as an outgrowth of rivalry between two separate television academies that had been established several years earlier. One was based in Los Angeles, the other in New York. The move to unite the two academies into a single “national” television academy was led by TV variety-show host Ed Sullivan, who was elected its first president. The rival New York and Hollywood academies became “founding chapters” of NATAS and additional chapters were later established in other cities.

The first nationally televised Emmy Awards originated from both New York and Los Angeles in 1955, actually predating the merger of the two academies. These bi-coastal presentations continued through 1971 and mirrored the glamour of the rapidly expanding television industry to the point where the Emmy ceremonies were second only to the Motion Picture Academy Awards in terms of audience interest and recognition. After 1971, separate award ceremonies for prime-time entertainment programs originated from Los Angeles, while New York remained home for the news and documentary awards.

During the 1970s, relations between the Hollywood and New York chapters remained tense. Los Angeles producers of prime-time programs expressed resentment that their programs were being judged by members in New York and the smaller market chapters since they did not consider these individuals to be their peers. They also resented their minority status on a Board of Trustees dominated by the New York and smaller market chapters. After John Cannon of New York defeated Robert Lewine of Hollywood for the presidency of the organization in 1976, the Hollywood chapter left NATAS and created a separate organization: the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, or ATAS.

ATAS sued for exclusive rights to bestow the Emmy on the grounds that the Los Angeles group had actually given the award several years before NATAS was formed. Litigation by both organizations ended with a compromise: ATAS would retain the Emmy rights for prime-time entertainment programming; NATAS would continue to award Emmys for news and documentary, sports, daytime, and public-service programming, and also for achievements in television engineering.

Initially, NATAS was weakened by the departure of the Los Angeles group. But during the following two decades, NATAS has been strengthened by growing interest in daytime programs (talk shows and soap operas). Each spring, the organization presents a “Daytime at Nighttime” awards ceremony, broadcast during prime time, and showcasing TV’s soap-opera stars. The presentation is staged at Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, or a similar New York location. Separate ceremonies for each of the categories of sports, news, public service, and technology are scheduled on different dates, and sometimes telecast over cable channels.

NATAS has also been strengthened by growth in both the number and size of regional chapters located in many of the major television markets. The nineteen chapters are: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati (Ohio Valley), Denver, Detroit, Nashville, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, South Florida, St. Louis, Texas, and Washington, D.C. (A local Los Angeles-area chapter is affiliated with ATAS.)

Each chapter is chartered by the national organization but operates independently in terms of its programs and finances. All 19 chapters conduct Emmy awards presentations to honor television professionals in their respective markets and in adjacent markets that do not have their own chapters. For example, Philadelphia is officially called the Mid Atlantic Chapter and includes Pittsburgh, Scranton, Harrisburg, and several other markets in Pennsylvania. Texas, the newest chapter at this writing, includes Houston, Dallas–Fort Worth, San Antonio, and sixteen smaller markets. It was organized with the assumption that two or more separate chapters might eventually emerge from what is now called the Lone Star Chapter.

At both the national and local levels, considerable emphasis is placed on the peer judging of all entries. The national awards are evaluated by judging panels of individuals working within the respective categories. At the local level, chapters exchange tapes to ensure that judging is performed by qualified professionals in other markets. The local Emmy statuette is a smaller replica of the national Emmy statuettes awarded by NATAS and ATAS for national programming.

Governance of the national organization is the responsibility of a Board of Trustees with individual trustees selected by the chapters. Chapter representation is proportional, with one trustee allocated for every 300 members. Each chapter, in turn, is governed by a Broad of Governors elected by the membership.

John Cannon led NATAS for 25 years, until his death in 2001. After a national search, Peter O. Price, a former newspaper publisher and cable television executive, was named president by the Board of Trustees in 2002.

Under Price, the organization adapted a shorter name, National Television Academy or NTA, which it uses in many of its activities. A redesigned Emmy has also been introduced on letterhead and in many public relations and promotional announcements. However, the full legal name remains the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and the original Emmy statuette remains intact.

Relationships between the two academies (NATAS and ATAS) remain cool, for the most part. Not surprisingly, most of the controversy relates to the awarding of Emmys. For example, ATAS wanted to award an Emmy for the best commercial; NATAS did not. Conversely, NATAS has proposed a separate Emmys awards ceremony for Spanish-language programming, which ATAS opposes.

In addition to the Emmy awards, NATAS publishes Television Quarterly, a scholarly journal dealing with the historical development and critical analysis of television programs and the television industry. Three major scholarships, currently $40,000 each, are awarded by the national organization to high school seniors who intend to major in communications in college and pursue a career in television. Also, each of the 19 chapters has its own scholarship program. In 2002, NATAS began National Student Television, a program created to recognize excellence and award special student Emmys to television programs produced by high schools throughout the United States.

NATAS maintains a national office at 70 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019 and a website at www. emmyonline.org. Each of the 19 chapters has offices in their respective cities and all chapters are linked to the national website. The organization and its chapters have 13,000 individual members.