Academy Awards set the tone, in terms of recognition, ceremony and glamour, for many media awards that now annually recognize both excellence and box-office receipts. These awards, especially as telecast internationally, reaffirm celebrity, glamour and values of American production despite questions about the nature of the selection process. They also eclipse many smaller local and festival awards around the country. These major awards and their spectacles reinforce economic success for studios, works and artists who position themselves through advertisements, gifts and screenings to “bring their works” to the attention of voters.

The Oscars, 13½ inch statuettes awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, first appeared in 1927 when Wings captured Best Picture while German-born Emil Jannings won Best Actor. Oscar nominations are decided upon within specialist branches before the final vote of all academy members. As the ceremony has moved from a hotel auditorium to wider audiences, professional roles have been taken by comedian hosts (Bob Hope, Johnny Carson, Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg), and sets and production numbers have become increasingly elaborate—as have jewelry hair and costumes for stars. While moments of political intrusion are often remembered (Marlon Brando’s Native American substitute, George C. Scott’s refusal, Richard Gere’s pleas for Tibet), the Oscars tend to reaffirm the priority of Hollywood as the entertainment capital.

Indeed, workers in technical fields and “lesser-interest” awards are relegated to earlier, less publicized ceremonies so that the narrative of the Oscars focuses on the final naming of the highest categories—Best Picture and Best Director. Foreign films were added as a category in 1947. In the 1990s, limited-voting awards like the New York Film Critics and Golden Globes gained increasing attention as forerunners for the Oscars.

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences held its first small ceremony for the Emmy in Hollywood on January 25, 1949. Its six categories remained broad, for example, Most Outstanding Television Personality (ventriloquist Shirley Dinsdale) and Most Popular Television Program (Pantomime Quiz; KTLA), reflecting the limited scale of a nascent industry that served only 1 million sets. In the second year, categories like Children’s Television, Public Service and even advertising were added; divisions of genre and gender became established in the 1950s. Regional awards also emerged in major markets somewhat later in the 1950s as performance and programming awards topped fifty by 1970. Like the Oscars, the awards became television events in themselves, including a separate daytime Emmy presentation. Emmys also have been torn between the recognition of changing definitions of quality or breakthrough achievements and popularity—how does one compare the investigative news of 60 Minutes with baseball coverage, daytime soaps or musical variety? Nonetheless, this confluence promotes a sense of celebrity which increasingly crosses genres.

Other national media-award shows have emerged complementing these, like the televised spectacle of the Grammies (music) and Country Music Awards. Broadway’s Tony Awards (founded 1947) also have emerged to national television audiences and repackaging in Broadway advertisements that highlight the number of nominations (as well as debates over the constitution of each category).

Some awards also combine movies, television and other fields, for example music, while stressing popularity and pseudo-democracy (People’s Choice), while others draw the attention of specific audiences—MTV awards have added youngeroriented categories like Best Kiss. Meanwhile, Essence magazine sponsors awards for African achievement and ESPN hands out the ESPYS. More serious retrospective awards, including Kennedy Center Honors and American Film Institute retrospectives, have also been packaged for wider audiences. Cable television, moreover, created new premiums such as the Cable Ace awards, which recognize the burgeoning power and diversity of these channels, even as they muscle into Emmys and Golden Globes.

Overall, awards as recognition may have vital meanings in terms of careers, box-office revenues, thematic trends and even corporate survivals. At the same time, as live televisual events, they bring the excitement of uncertain outcomes (as in sports events and game shows), individual triumphs and glamorous success to audiences in the US and worldwide.