After a joint decision by the TV Academy and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences to create a separate ceremony for kids, the two entities continue their cooperation in updating the rules of the Emmys awards to better reflect the way people watch TV. According to Deadline, the Primetime and Daytime Emmy ceremonies will be organized only by genre as opposed to the original rules written decades ago.
The new move will have daytime dramas and other programs, including talk shows and game shows, potentially be considered for Primetime awards.
The criteria for Primetime or Daytime will be considered by how the show is filmed (on stage or location) and how often it airs (daily or weekly). Even though television is mostly consumed by streaming or on-demand, the Emmys will keep the Primetime and Daytime monikers for legacy reasons.
The three categories that will be affected by this change are daytime dramas, talk shows, and game shows.
Daytime dramas will remain in the Daytime category, and they will be redefined as “any multi-camera, weekday daily serial, spinoff, or reboot,” according to Deadline. Daily programs for ages 15 and under will be under the new Children & Family Competition category.
Digital daytime series like The Bay will be moved to Primetime consideration. Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem would’ve been moved to Primetime, but it will instead be considered under Daytime along with its flagship show.
Talk shows will be separated by format and style characteristics. Most current daytime talk shows will remain under the Daytime ceremony based on their interactions with the audience, including giveaways, and segments from other daytime categories such as cooking or crafting. Shows such as The Ellen DeGeneres Show could move to Primetime as they bear similarities to most late-night television shows with attributes such as monologues, celebrity interviews, and non-traditional daytime segments.
Morning shows, going forward, will be part of the News and Documentary Emmy competition if they tend to be news-driven. They will move to Daytime if they skew towards the entertaining spectrum.
Game shows and Instructional & DIY programming will remain separate for the 2022 year, but the Academies will consider a genre-based alignment for 2023. Because daytime and primetime game shows are similar, frequency of airing (daily or weekly) and regular run vs. limited events may determine the distinction.
“NATAS and the Television Academy each pride ourselves on celebrating and honoring the best television has to offer, and with the evolution of our industry, it was critical to update our competitions to meet current trends in both content and viewing habits,” President and CEO of NATAS Adam Sharp told Deadline. “These changes will allow each Academy to honor an undivided scope of achievement in our respective fields of television excellence.”