Governors Award (Primetime Emmy Awards)

The Governors Award was established in 1978 by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The award, one of the highest honors presented by the Board, when warranted, recognize an individual, company, or organization that has made a profound, transformational, and long-lasting contribution to the arts and/or science of television by presenting them with the Governors Award. ^[1]

Recipients

• 1978 – William S. Paley
• 1979 – Walter Cronkite
• 1980 – Johnny Carson
• 1981 – Elton Rule
• 1982 – Hallmark Cards, Inc.
• 1983 – Sylvester L. "Pat" Weaver
• 1984 – Bob Hope
• 1985 – Alistair Cooke
• 1986 – Red Skelton
• 1987 – Grant Tinker
• 1988 – William Hanna & Joseph Barbera
• 1989 – Lucille Ball
• 1990 – Leonard Goldenson
• 1991 – Masterpiece Theatre
• 1992 – Ted Turner
• 1993 – No award given
• 1994 – No award given
• 1995 – PBS
• 1996 – USA's Erase the Hate Campaign / Turner's Native American Initiative
• 1997 – ABC's March Against Drugs Campaign / Comic Relief USA / Jac Venza
• 1998 – National Geographic Channel / Great Books Literacy Project
• 1999 – MTV's "Fight for Your Rights: Take a Stand Against Violence" / Save Our History
• 2000 – A&E's The Biography Project for Schools / The Teen Files / VH1 Save the Music Foundation
• 2001 – CNN / Showtime
• 2002 – ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC for America: A Tribute to Heroes
• 2003 – Lifetime Network's "Stop the Violence Against Women" initiative
• 2004 – Viacom Inc. (for its pro bono publico outreaches)
• 2005 – Jerry Lewis
• 2006 – MTVu Campaign for Darfur
• 2007 – Idol Gives Back / The Addiction Project
• 2008 – Planet Earth
• 2009 – Sheila Nevins and her HBO documentary unit
• 2010 – Norman Brokaw / Ad Council
• 2011 – John Walsh
• 2012 – It Gets Better Project (co-founders Dan Savage and Terry Miller)
• 2013 – June Foray
• 2014 – Marion Dougherty
• 2015 – A+E Networks
• 2016 – American Idol
• 2017 – ITVS
• 2018 – Star Trek
• 2019 – No award given
• 2020 – Tyler Perry and The Perry Foundation
• 2021 – Debbie Allen
• 2022 – Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media
• 2023 – GLAAD
• 2024 – Greg Berlanti
• 2025 – Corporation for Public Broadcasting ^{[2] [3]}

References

1. "Governors Award". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. July 30, 2025. Retrieved July 30, 2025.
2. "Corporation for Public Broadcasting to Receive Governors Award". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. September 2, 2025. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
3. Chitwood, Adam (September 2, 2025). "Corporation for Public Broadcasting Honored With TV Academy's Governors Award After Defunding". TheWrap . Retrieved September 2, 2025.