Why This Year's Emmys Will Air On A Monday Night For The First Time In Nearly 40 Years

For the first time in 38 years, the Emmys will occur on Monday night.

The last time the ceremony was held on Monday was during the 28th Primetime Emmy Awards in May 1976.

Typically, the event is held on a Sunday evening in late August or September, but we'll be watching the 66th annual awards ceremony on a different night for a few reasons.

Ever since 2006 when NBC has aired the Emmys they have taken place in August.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, this is because of NBC's deal to air Sunday Night Football, a big rating's winner for the network. When asked about the shift to Monday, Deadline reports NBC attributed the move to avoid any conflict with the NFL preseason.

A quick look at television scheduling shows NBC probably made the decision to move to Monday night to avoid going head-to-head with another big awards' show.

MTV's Video Music Awards just so happen to be airing Sunday, August 24.

This isn't out of the ordinary as the VMAs usually air some time at the end of August or early September on a Sunday.

This year's event is expected to is expected to have Taylor Swift debut her new song "Shake It Off" on stage. Beyoncé is also set to perform and will receive the Video Vanguard Award, MTV's lifetime achievement award.

Instead of getting two awards shows competing against each other (and HBO's series finale of "True Blood") for similar demographics in the ratings, we'll be getting two big awards shows back-to-back.

The three-hour Primetime Emmys will air August 25 from 8-11 p.m.