Almost fifty years after their acrimonious split, the two organizations giving away Emmys may become one again. The Television Academy (fka ATAS), which is behind the Emmy Awards, nd the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS), which puts together the Daytime Emmy Awards, have begun exploratory talks on a potential reunification after an overwhelming vote by both boards.

There is no formal date or deadline set for the conclusion of the conversations.

Because of the ongoing nature of the unification discussions, the Television Academy Board has voted to extend all current sitting Governors’ terms by one year so they can see the process through.

“Television remains the most powerful medium we have to shape culture and prompt conversations that define us—no matter the size of the screen,” reps for NATAS and the TV Academy said in a joint statement. “With the business of television undergoing such a monumental transformation, this is the right moment to explore a reunification of our Academies, providing our members and our industry with a bolder voice advocating for them and a stronger partner to navigate the future with them.”

After almost three decades of strained relations following the June 30, 1977 split, the TV Academy and NATAS’ reconciliation kicked off in 2004 with an agreement that moved the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences from NATAS to then-ATAS, transferred the Los Angeles Chapter from ATAS to NATAS and ended all litigation.

Moore cooperation followed in 2021 with the establishment of The Children’s and Family Emmy Awards, featuring categories previously presented at both the Emmys, governed by the TV Academy, and the NATAS-sanctioned Daytime Emmys, and in 2022, when a move of game shows from NATAS to the TV Academy jurisdiction was announced.

An unification of the two TV academies, divided largely by honoring primetime and daytime programming, would resemble that of SAG and AFTRA as the two unions also used to represent performers from different day parts.

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