The Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host was an award presented annually by the

National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) is an American professional service organization founded in 1955 for "the advancement of the arts and sciences of television and the promotion of creative leadership for artistic, edu ...

(NATAS) and

Academy of Television Arts & Sciences The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), also colloquially known as the Television Academy, is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the television industry in the United States. It is a 501(c)(6) non-prof ...

(ATAS). It was given to honor the outstanding work of a

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

host who has appeared in at least 19% of total episodes for the calendar year. The

1st First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

Daytime Emmy Awards The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (N ...

ceremony was held in 1974 with

Peter Marshall Peter Marshall may refer to: Entertainment * Peter Marshall (entertainer) (born 1926), American game show host of ''The Hollywood Squares'', 1966–1981 * Peter Marshall (author, born 1939) (1939–1972), British novelist whose works include ''T ...

receiving the award for his hosting duty on the

panel Panel may refer to: Arts and media Visual arts *Panel (comics), a single image in a comic book, comic strip or cartoon; also, a comic strip containing one such image *Panel painting, in art, either one element of a multi-element piece of art, ...

game show ''

Hollywood Squares ''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show Television pilot, piloted on NBC in 1965 and the regular series debut ...

''. The award category was originally called Outstanding Host or Hostess in a Game or Audience Participation Show before changing to its current title in 1985. The awards ceremony was not aired on television in 1983 and 1984, having been criticized for voting integrity. The Emmy was named after an "Immy", an affectionate term used to refer to the image orthicon camera tube. The statuette was designed by

Louis McManus Louis Manuel McManus (May 31, 1898 – April 17, 1968) was an American television engineer, film editor, and designer of the 1930s and 1940s. He is best known as the designer for the appearance of the Emmy award The Emmy Awards, or Emmy ...

, who modeled the award after his wife, Dorothy. The Emmy statuette is fifteen inches tall from base to tip, weighing five pounds and is composed of iron, pewter, zinc and gold. Since its inception, the award has been given to 18 hosts. In 1983,

Betty White Betty Marion White (January 17, 1922December 31, 2021) was an American actress and comedian. A pioneer of Golden Age of Television, early television, with a television career spanning almost seven decades, White was noted for her vast work i ...

became the first woman to win the award and eventually was joined by

Meredith Vieira Meredith Louise Vieira (born December 30, 1953) is an American broadcast journalist and television personality. She is best known as the original moderator of the daytime talk show '' The View'' (1997–2006), the original host of the syndicated ...

22 years later as the only two females to have garnered the award. Steve Harvey and

Wayne Brady Wayne Alphonso Brady (born June 2, 1972) is an American television personality, comedian, actor, and singer. He is a regular on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' He was the host of ...

are the only African American game show hosts to have won the Emmy. In 1990,

Bob Barker Robert William Barker (born December 12, 1923) is an American retired television game show host. He is known for hosting CBS's '' The Price Is Right'' from 1972 to 2007, making it the longest-running daytime game show in North American tele ...

and

Alex Trebek George Alexander Trebek (; July 22, 1940 – November 8, 2020) was a Canadian-American game show host and television personality. He is best known for hosting the syndicated general knowledge quiz game show ''Jeopardy!'' for 37 season ...

tied for the award, which was the first tie in this category. Also in 1990, Barker became the host with the most wins in the category when he won a fifth time, surpassing Marshall's previous record of four; Barker went on to win in nine additional years, ultimately receiving fourteen wins. Trebek has since received five additional wins. Trebek last won the award at the 2021 ceremony, which was accepted posthumously due to his death in November 2020. Trebek also has been nominated on 32 occasions, more than any other host. At the 2022 ceremony, Harvey became the last awarded host in this category for his hosting duties on ''

Family Feud ''Family Feud'' is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson. It features two families who compete to name the most popular answers to survey questions in order to win cash and prizes. The show has had three separate runs, th ...

''. In 2023, this category will be moved to the

Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

as part of a re-alignment of categories between

NATAS The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) is an American professional service organization founded in 1955 for "the advancement of the arts and sciences of television and the promotion of creative leadership for artistic, edu ...

and ATAS and will be renamed Outstanding Host for a Game Show."Emmy Awards Update: Game Show Categories"
/ref>