The Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards (for film), Grammy Awards (for music) and Tony Awards (for stage (theatre)).

They are presented in various sectors of the television industry, including entertainment programming, news and documentary shows, and sports programming. As such, the awards are presented in various area-specific ceremonies held annually throughout the year. The best known of these ceremonies are the Primetime Emmy Awards, honoring excellence in American (United States) primetime television programming (excluding sports), and the Daytime Emmy Awards, honoring excellence in American (United States) daytime television programming.

Three related but separate organizations present the Emmy Awards: * the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) honors national prime time entertainment excluding sports; * the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences) (NATAS) recognizes daytime, sports, news and documentary programming, and; * the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences) honors all programming produced and originally aired outside the United States.