Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series Directing Team

The Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series Directing Team is an award presented annually by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) and Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS).

Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series Directing Team
Awarded for	Outstanding Drama Series Directing Team
Country	United States
Presented by	NATAS ATAS
First award	1974
Currently held by	General Hospital (2024)
Most awards	General Hospital(15)
Most nominations	The Young and the Restless (27)
Website	emmyonline.org/daytime

It was first awarded at the 1st Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony, held in 1974 when the award was originally called Outstanding Individual Director for a Drama Series. Therefore, between 1974 and 1978; the award only honored individual directors.^[1][2] In 1979, the award was renamed Outstanding Direction for a Drama Series before using its current title years later.^[3] Since then, the award has honored the performances of the entire directing team participating in a form of a daytime drama.^[1] The awards ceremony was not aired on television in 1983 and 1984, having been criticized for lack of integrity.^[4][5]

Richard Dunlap has received the most wins for his direction on The Young and the Restless, with a total of two. General Hospital holds the record for the most awards, winning on fifteen occasions. The Bold and the Beautiful tied in 2011 with The Young and the Restless, which was the first tie in this category. The soap opera has also received the most nominations, with a total of twenty-seven. CBS has been the network the most successful, with a total of nineteen wins. As of the 2024 ceremony, General Hospital is the most recent recipient of the award.

Winners and nominees

Listed below are the winners of the award for each year, as well as the other nominees.

Table key

‡	Indicates the winner

Outstanding Individual Director for a Drama Series

Year	Director(s)	Program	Network	Ref
1970s
1974 (1st)	Wes Kenney‡	Days of Our Lives	NBC	[2]
	Norman Hall	The Doctors	NBC
	Hugh McPhillips	The Doctors	NBC
1975 (2nd)	Richard Dunlap‡	The Young and the Restless	CBS	[6]
	Joseph Behar	Days of Our Lives	NBC
	Ira Cirker	Another World	NBC
1976 (3rd)	David Pressman ‡	One Life to Live	ABC	[7]
	Hugh McPhillips	The Doctors	NBC
	Richard Dunlap	The Young and the Restless	CBS
1977 (4th)	Lela Swift‡	Ryan's Hope	NBC	[8]
	Joseph Behar	Days of Our Lives	NBC
	Ira Cirker	Another World	NBC
	Paul E. Davis and Leonard Valenta	As the World Turns	CBS
	Al Rabin	Days of Our Lives	NBC
	John Sedwick	The Edge of Night	ABC
1978 (4th)	Richard Dunlap‡	The Young and the Restless	CBS	[9]
	Ira Cirker	Another World	NBC
	Robert Myhrum	Love of Life	CBS
	Al Rabin	Days of Our Lives	NBC
	Lela Swift	Ryan's Hope	NBC
	Richard T. McCue	As the World Turns	CBS

Outstanding Drama Series Directing Team

Year	Program	Network	Ref
1970s
1979 (6th)	Ryan's Hope‡	ABC	[10]
	All My Children	ABC
	Another World	NBC
	Days of Our Lives	NBC
	The Edge of Night	ABC
	The Young and the Restless	CBS
1980s
1980 (7th)	Ryan's Hope‡	ABC	[11]
	All My Children	ABC
	Another World	NBC
	The Edge of Night	ABC
	General Hospital	ABC
	Love of Life	CBS
1981 (8th)	General Hospital‡	ABC	[12]
	All My Children	ABC
	One Life to Live	ABC
1982 (9th)	General Hospital‡	ABC	[1]
	All My Children	ABC
	The Edge of Night	ABC
	One Life to Live	ABC
1983 (10th)	One Life to Live‡	ABC	[1]
	All My Children	ABC
	General Hospital	ABC
1984 (11th)	One Life to Live‡	ABC	[1]
	All My Children	ABC
1985 (12th)	Guiding Light ‡	CBS	[1]
	As the World Turns	CBS
	Days of Our Lives	NBC
	All My Children	ABC
	One Life to Live	ABC
1986 (13th)	The Young and the Restless‡	CBS	[1]
	As the World Turns	CBS
	Days of Our Lives	NBC
	Guiding Light	CBS
	One Life to Live	ABC
1987 (14th)	The Young and the Restless‡	CBS	[1]
	All My Children	ABC
	As the World Turns	CBS
	Days of Our Lives	NBC
1988 (15th)	The Young and the Restless‡	CBS	[1]
	As the World Turns	CBS
	Days of Our Lives	NBC
	One Life to Live	ABC
	Superior Court	syndicated
1989 (16th)	The Young and the Restless‡	CBS	[1]
	As the World Turns	CBS
	Family Medical Center	syndicated
	Loving	ABC
	One Life to Live	ABC
1990s
1990 (17th)	Santa Barbara‡	NBC	[1]
	All My Children	ABC
	As the World Turns	CBS
	Guiding Light	CBS
	The Young and the Restless	CBS
1991 (18th)	Santa Barbara‡	NBC	[13]
	All My Children	ABC
	Guiding Light	CBS
	The Young and the Restless	CBS
1992 (19th)	Another World‡	NBC	[14]
	As the World Turns	CBS
	The Young and the Restless	CBS
1993 (20th)	As the World Turns‡	CBS	[15]
	All My Children	ABC
	Another World	NBC
	Days of Our Lives	NBC
	Guiding Light	CBS
	The Young and the Restless	CBS
1994 (21st)	Guiding Light‡	CBS	[16]
	All My Children	ABC
	The Young and the Restless	CBS
1995 (22nd)	All My Children‡	ABC	[17]
	Another World	NBC
	As the World Turns	CBS
	One Life to Live	ABC
	The Young and the Restless	CBS
1996 (23rd)	The Young and the Restless‡	CBS	[18]
	All My Children	ABC
	Days of Our Lives	NBC
	General Hospital	ABC
1997 (24th)	The Young and the Restless‡	CBS	[19]
	All My Children	ABC
	Days of Our Lives	NBC
	General Hospital	ABC
1998 (25th)	The Young and the Restless‡	CBS	[20]
	All My Children	ABC	[21]
	Days of Our Lives	NBC
	General Hospital	ABC
1999 (26th)	The Young and the Restless‡	CBS	[22]
	All My Children	ABC
	Days of Our Lives	NBC
	General Hospital	ABC
	Sunset Beach	NBC
2000s
2000 (27th)	General Hospital‡	ABC	[23]
	All My Children	ABC
	The Bold and the Beautiful	CBS
	Sunset Beach	NBC
	The Young and the Restless	CBS
2001 (28th)	The Young and the Restless‡	CBS	[24]
	All My Children	ABC
	As the World Turns	CBS
	General Hospital	ABC
	Passions	NBC
2002 (29th)	The Young and the Restless‡	CBS	[25]
	All My Children	ABC
	As the World Turns	CBS
	The Bold and the Beautiful	CBS
2003 (30th)	All My Children‡	ABC	[26]
	As the World Turns	CBS
	Days of Our Lives	NBC
	Passions	NBC
2004 (31st)	General Hospital‡	ABC	[27]
	One Life to Live	ABC	[28]
	Passions	NBC
	The Young and the Restless	CBS
2005 (32nd)	General Hospital‡	ABC	[29]
	All My Children	ABC
	Guiding Light	CBS
	The Young and the Restless	CBS
2006 (33rd)	General Hospital‡	ABC	[30]
	The Bold and the Beautiful	CBS	[31]
	Days of Our Lives	NBC
	The Young and the Restless	CBS
2007 (34th)	As the World Turns‡	CBS	[32]
	General Hospital	ABC
	Guiding Light	CBS
	One Life to Live	ABC
2008 (35th)	One Life to Live‡	ABC	[33]
	All My Children	ABC	[34]
	The Bold and the Beautiful	CBS
	General Hospital	ABC
2009 (36th)	One Life to Live‡	ABC	[35]
	All My Children	ABC	[36]
	Days of Our Lives	NBC
2010s
2010 (37th)	General Hospital‡	ABC	[37]
	All My Children	ABC	[38]
	The Bold and the Beautiful	CBS
	One Life to Live	ABC
2011 (38th)	The Bold and the Beautiful‡	CBS	[39]
	The Young and the Restless‡	CBS
	General Hospital	ABC	[40]
	One Life to Live	ABC
2012 (39th)	General Hospital‡	ABC	[41]
	The Bold and the Beautiful	CBS	[42]
	One Life to Live	ABC
	The Young and the Restless	CBS
2013 (40th)	The Bold and the Beautiful‡	CBS	[43]
	Days of Our Lives	NBC	[44]
	General Hospital	ABC
	The Young and the Restless	CBS
2014 (41st)	One Life to Live[a]‡	TOLN.com	[45]
	The Bold and the Beautiful[b]	CBS	[46]
	The Young and the Restless[c]	CBS
2015 (42nd)	The Bold and the Beautiful[d]‡	CBS	[47]
	Days of Our Lives[e]	NBC	[48]
	General Hospital[f]	ABC
	The Young and the Restless[g]	CBS
2016 (43rd)	General Hospital‡	ABC	[49]
	The Bold and the Beautiful	CBS	[50]
	Days of Our Lives	NBC
	The Young and the Restless	CBS
2017 (44th)	General Hospital‡	ABC	[51]
	The Bold and the Beautiful	CBS	[52]
	Days of Our Lives	NBC
	The Young and the Restless	CBS
2018 (45th)	Days of Our Lives ‡	NBC	[53]
	The Bold and the Beautiful	CBS	[54]
	General Hospital	ABC
	The Young and the Restless	CBS
2019 (46th)	The Young and the Restless‡	ABC	[55]
	The Bold and the Beautiful	CBS	[56]
	Days of Our Lives	NBC
	General Hospital	ABC
2020s
2020 (47th)	General Hospital‡	ABC	[57]
	The Bold and the Beautiful	CBS	[58]
	Days of Our Lives	NBC
	The Young and the Restless	CBS
2021 (48th)	General Hospital ‡	ABC	[59]
	The Bold and the Beautiful	CBS	[60]
	Days of Our Lives	NBC
	The Young and the Restless	CBS
2022 (49th)	General Hospital‡	ABC	[61]
	Beyond Salem	Peacock	[62]
	Days of Our Lives	NBC
	The Young and the Restless	CBS
2023 (50th)	General Hospital‡	ABC	[63] [64]
	The Bay	Popstar! TV
	The Bold and the Beautiful	CBS
	Beyond Salem: Chapter Two	Peacock
	Days of Our Lives	Peacock
	The Young and the Restless	CBS
2024 (51st)	General Hospital‡	ABC	[65]
	The Bay	Popstar! TV
	The Bold and the Beautiful	CBS
	Days of Our Lives	Peacock
	The Young and the Restless	CBS
2025 (52nd)	*Winner will be announced on October 17, 2025		[66]
	Days of Our Lives	Peacock
	General Hospital	ABC
	The Young and the Restless	CBS

Series with multiple wins

15 wins

• General Hospital

13 wins

• The Young and the Restless

6 wins

• One Life to Live

3 wins

• Ryan's Hope
• The Bold and the Beautiful

2 wins

• All My Children
• As the World Turns
• Guiding Light
• Santa Barbara

Notes

1. Directors: Habib Azar, Gary Donatelli, Christopher Goutman, Jill Mitwell, Associate Directors: Tracey Casper Lang, Mary Ryan, Shirley Simmons, Stage Managers: Fritz Brekeller, Keith Greer, Brendan M. Higgins, Production Associates: Ilene Frakel, Dana Randles
2. Directors: Jennifer Howard, Deveney Kelly, Cynthia J. Popp, David Shaughnessey, Michael Stich, Associate Directors: Clyde Kaplan, Jennifer Scott-Christenson, Catherine Sedwick, Steve Wacker, Stage Managers: Doug Hayden, Lisa Winther-Houston, Laura Yale, Production Associates: Lori Staffier
3. Directors: Casey Childs, Michael Eilbaum, Sally McDonald, Conal O'Brien, Owen Renfroe, Associate Directors: Daniel Cahn, Robbin Phillips, Stage Managers: Tom McDermott, Herb Weaver, Production Associates: Ericka Chavez, Vanessa Noland, Nancy Ortenberg
4. Directors: Jennifer Howard, Deveney Kelly, Cynthia J. Popp, David Shaughnessey, Michael Stich, Associate Directors: Clyde Kaplan, Jennifer Scott-Christenson, Catherine Sedwick, Steve Wacker, Stage Managers: Doug Hayden, Lisa Winther-Houston, Laura Yale, Production Associates: Robin Harvey, Lori Staffier
5. Directors: Albert Alarr, Grant Johnson, Herbert Stein, Steven Williford, Associate Directors: Michael Fiamingo, Tina Keller, Joseph Lumer, Jenee Muyeau, Zoli Osaze, Lugh Powers Stage Managers: Fran Bellini DeSimone, Stuart Howard, Production Associates: Brenda Glazer, Holly Metts, Sara Peterson, Lucy Yalenian
6. Directors: Larry Carpenter, William Ludel, Scott McKinsey, Penny Pengra, Frank Valentini, Phideaux Xavier, Associate Directors: Christine Cooper, Peter Fillmore, Paul Glass, Dave MacLeod, Christine Magarian Ucar, Denise Van Cleave, Stage Managers: Crystal Craft, Craig McManus Production Associates: Jillian Dedote, Marika Kushel, Allison Reames
7. Directors: Casey Childs, Michael Eilbaum, Sally McDonald, Conal O'Brien, Owen Renfroe, Associate Directors: Daniel Cahn, Robbin Phillips, Stage Managers: Tom McDermott, Herb Weaver, Production Associates: Ericka Chavez, Vanessa Noland, Nancy Ortenberg