2026 Daytime Emmys Unveil Major Changes for Nominee Submissions (3/19/26) (variety.com) Submissions are now open for the 53rd Daytime Emmy Awards, which are set to take place on Oct. 30, the East Coast-based National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced on Thursday. As part of the news, NATAS unveiled a new design scheme for all of its Emmy ceremonies, including the Daytime event. It also revealed several rule changes — including the elimination of the Science and Nature category, and methodology that puts it closer in line to how the West Coast-based Television Academy runs the Primetime Emmys. Among the changes: Submissions will now be episode-based, which it calls a “primetime format,” allowing programs to enter multiple submissions for different episodes and potentially receive several nominations. Also, NATAS has opted to determine how many nominations a category will get based on a scale of how may submissions there were, much like what happens at the Primetime Emmys. There’s a new threshold for when you’re eligible for guest actor in a daytime drama. And the science and nature programming category has been eliminated in Daytime, as programs will now have to submit in Primetime, News & Doc or Children’s & Family, depending on eligibility. Here is a full look at this year’s Daytime Emmy rule changes: Episode-Based Submissions: In the past, a team-based structure allowed a show’s full team to be awarded on a single submission. But now, with an episode-based submission for craft categories, “A program is therefore eligible to enter multiple submissions for different episodes and potentially receive multiple nominations within the same category.” Joint Drama/Non-Fiction Categories: Daytime dramas and non-fiction programs will now enter alongside each other in categories except writing and directing. The categories will be split again if both the daytime drama and daytime non-fiction tracks have at least 10 submissions each. Science and Nature Programming: With the elimination of the Daytime Emmys having a science and nature category, shows that previously landed here (including the offscreen/voiceover narrator) will now relocate to either News & Doc or Primetime. Also if the show is geared to viewers under 15, it would move to Children’s & Family Emmys. As a corollary to this, programs produced by a platform’s documentary department are not eligible for a Daytime Emmy (submit them at News & Doc Emmys or Primetime Emmys instead). Last year’s winner in the category was Apple TV’s “The Secret Lives of Animals.” Other nominees included “Living with Leopards” (Netflix), “National Parks: USA” (National Geographic), “Secret Lives of Orangutans” (Netflix) and “Secrets of the Neanderthals” (Netflix). Guest Performer In a Daytime Drama: “To be eligible for the guest category, you must be seen in a maximum of 19% of episodes aired/streamed for the first time during calendar year 2025. Otherwise, you must enter in categories eligible only in the Leading, Supporting, or Emerging Talent categories.” Previously, that definition was, you could submit in the guest category if your performance was “in a limited role with a definitive beginning and end to the story arc.” Redefining Multi-Cam and Single-Cam: All categories that used to be tracked as “multi-cam” or “single-cam” are now classified as “studio or non-studio.” That means “programs featuring both filming styles must a) choose to enter categories featuring the predominant style and b) may NOT enter certain crafts in one style and other crafts in the other style. Predominant is defined as 50.1%. This applies in non-fiction directing, technical direction and editing categories.” Members-Only Judging – Judges must now be members of either NATAS, the Television Academy, or dual members will automatically be approved to judge. “Members in applicable categories will be assigned, at the discretion of competition administrators, to the appropriate category or categories, as outlined in our judging guidelines,” the org said. And if there aren’t enough eligible judges, NATAS will consider prior Emmy Award winners, prior Emmy Award nominees, and “those who otherwise meet the published membership criteria for their respective Peer Group but have elected not to join at this time.” Nominee Count: The default number of nominations in a category are: 10 – 29 submissions: 5 nominations 30 – 59 submissions: 6 nominations 60 – 89 submissions: 7 nominations 90 – 119 submissions: 8 nominations 120 -149 submissions: 9 nominations 150 or more submissions: 10 nomination If there are fewer than ten submissions in a category, the default number of nominations is 50% of the category’s submissions, rounded up to the nearest whole number. Categories with three or fewer submissions have no nominations, “though the National Awards Committee may proceed with an award based on a standard of excellence if the category is not otherwise merged or eliminated.” Here’s how that compares with the Primetime Emmys’ nomination math: 20 – 80 submissions = 5 nominations 81 – 160 submissions = 6 nominations 161 – 240 submissions = 7 nominations > 240 submissions = 8 nominations.