Inside the Daytime Emmys: We Do More Than “Give Trophies to Famous People”

The Daytime Emmys are coming up on Friday, June 7, at 8 p.m. on CBS. Soap Hub has a preview of the exciting night, which will honor the best and brightest in Daytime TV. Also, we have some insights into the organization that administers the awards. The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) stays busy throughout the year.

Backstage Pass

While this year’s Daytime Emmys are only six months after last year’s, the time period that the awards cover remains the same — one calendar year. “It’s still honoring everything from 2023,” Rachel Schwartz, Head of Daytime and Children’s & Family, says in the current print issue of Variety, now on sale.

Schwartz says that this year’s awards will have a greater emphasis on actual awards as less screen time will be appropriated for tributes. (Last year, the broadcast honored Young and the Restless and General Hospital for their respective 50th and 60th anniversaries. The Daytime Emmys themselves celebrated 50 years, too.)

“We’ll be inducting our Gold and Silver Circle honorees on the telecast,” Schwartz added. For years, the four daytime soap operas — Y&R, GH, Bold and the Beautiful, and Days of our Lives — have competed for Daytime Emmy gold. In recent years, we’ve seen the addition of Web series The Bay and now, thanks to it appearing on Amazon Freevee, Australian soap Neighbours is competing. Click here for a complete list of Daytime Emmy nominees for this year.

Click here to find out which of your favorite soap opera stars will be appearing on the telecast as presenters. Returning as hosts are Entertainment Tonight‘s Kevin Frazier and Nischelle Turner.

The Creative Arts ceremony, which honors many of the backstage folks who bring soaps to life takes place on Saturday, June 8. If you think the Daytime Emmy folks won’t have any work to do after this weekend, well, you’d be wrong!

Tomorrow’s Emmy Winners

“A lot of people think that we give trophies to famous people,” says Tabatha Starcher, Head of Business Development, NATAS, with a bit of playful wryness to her tone. “Yes, that is what we do but it’s only part of what we do. We do so much more than that. We have this fabulous foundation that focuses on kids who want to be in the television industry. We have scholarships and grants that go to minorities and under-privileged kids. I encourage people to check out [the site].”

Starcher offers two names who have benefited from the NATAS Foundation’s commitment to students. There’s current NATAS President & CEO Adam Sharp and, more recently, Jonathan David, a graduate of Florida A&M University. “Jonathan had an internship [in sports] at ABC, and we’re super happy for him. [Students] get to come and meet people who are doing their dream jobs. They’re provided opportunities. We not only give grants, but we try to give opportunities to the next generation.”

A Word from Our Sponsors

Starcher wears many hats at NATAS. She’s vital to working with sponsors who help make the broadcast possible. Some of the companies and brands who are partnering with the Daytime Emmys this year are Chemist Spirits, children’s book series Teddy in Trouble, Biltmore Winery, the Harlem Globetrotters, and New England Sweetwater Farm & Distillery.

This marks the second time within about half a year that some sponsors have come back to the Daytime Emmys as last year’s awards were held in December. However, as Starcher told Variety, the Daytime Emmys are “a golden household luxury brand. There’s a huge interest in being a part of the Daytime Emmys.”

Don’t miss Soap Hub‘s coverage of the 51st Annual Daytime Emmys and the Creative Arts ceremony this weekend.