Daytime Emmy Award - Rules

Rules

Among the Daytime Emmy rules, a show must originally air on American television during the eligibility period between January 1 and December 31. In order to be considered a national daytime show, the program must air between 2 a.m. and 6 p.m., and to at least 50 percent of the country. A show that enters into the Daytime Emmys cannot also be entered into the Primetime Emmy Awards or any other national Emmy competition. For shows in syndication, whose air times vary between media markets, they can either be entered in the Daytime or Primetime Emmys (provided they still reach the 50 percent national reach), but not in both. For game shows that reach the 50 percent threshold, they can be entered into the Daytime Emmys if they normally air before 8 p.m (including the former "access hour" from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.); otherwise, they are only eligible for the Primetime Emmys.

Entries must be submitted by late December. Most award categories also require entries to include DVDs or tape masters of the show. For example, most series categories require the submitted DVD to include any one or two episodes that originally aired during the eligibility period.

Voting is done by peer judging panels. Any active Academy member, who has national credits for at least two years and within the last five years, is eligible to be a judge. Depending on the category, voting is done using either a ratings score criteria or a preferential scoring system.