| Founded | 1955 |
|---|---|
| Location | New York, New York |
| Area served | Television industry |
| Website | http://www.emmyonline.org/ |
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences or NATAS was created in 1955 to advance the arts and sciences of television. Headquartered in New York, NATAS's membership is national and the organization has local chapters around the country.
One of its past presidents, Don DeFore, was instrumental in arranging for the Emmy Awards to be broadcast on national TV for the first time on March 7, 1955. Other past presidents include John Cannon, Peter Price and Frank Radice
NATAS distributes Emmy Awards in various categories including Daytime, Sports, News and Documentary and Public Service.
NATAS also supervised the primetime Emmy Awards until a split between the East and West memberships in the 1970s led to a separate agency, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. ATAS supervises the primetime and Los Angeles area Emmys, while NATAS is in charge of the other Emmy honors. In 2007, the organization spawned a peer organization dedicated to new media, called the National Academy of Media Arts & Sciences (NAMAS).[1]