The 1st Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony was held in 1974 with Peter Marshall receiving the award for his hosting duty on the panel game showHollywood Squares. 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, 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.
Notable winners
Since its inception, the award has been given to 18 hosts. In 1983, Betty White became the first woman to win the award and eventually was joined by Meredith Vieira a century later as the only two females to have garnered the award. Steve Harvey and Wayne Brady are the only African American game show hosts to have won the Emmy. In 1990, Bob Barker and Alex Trebek 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 also has been nominated on 31 occasions, more than any other host. As of the 2020 ceremony, Alex Trebek is the most recent winner in this category for his hosting duty on the game show Jeopardy!.
Winners and nominees
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
Multiple wins and nominations
The following individuals received two or more Game Show Host awards:
Wins
Host
14
Bob Barker
7
Alex Trebek
4
Peter Marshall
3
Ben Bailey
3
Dick Clark
3
Pat Sajak
2
Steve Harvey
2
Craig Ferguson
2
Meredith Vieira
has the most wins in this category for his hosting duty on The Price Is Right.|alt=Photo of Bob Barker at WWE live in 2009. has been nominated on 31 occasions, receiving seven wins.|alt=Photo Alex Trebek in 2009. The following individuals received two or more Game Show Host nominations:
