Why are the Emmy Awards so called?

The Emmy Awards were instituted by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS) as a television equivalent for the Academy Awards for films. The first Emmy Award ceremony was held in January 1949. The name ‘Emmy’ chosen by ATAS is the feminization of ‘Immy’ — the nickname for the image of the orthicon camera tube that led to the development of television. The name Emmy was complemented by the award statuette design that depicts a winged idealized woman holding an atom. The wings represent the art and the atom represents the science and technology of the television medium.