Strange facts you probably never knew about the Emmy Awards

Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, winner of Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Comedy Series for Veep. Photo / Getty

The 69th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards is about to get underway, with the biggest names in television descending on Los Angeles.

There's plenty we already know about the prestigious industry celebration, but here are some bizarre facts about the show that will probably surprise you.

WINNERS HAVE TO PAY TO TAKE THEIR EMMY HOME

After the thrill of standing up in front of their peers and making an acceptance speech, Emmy winners are quickly brought back down to earth with a hefty bill.

The statuettes - which consist of cheap metals dipped in liquid gold - cost around $US400 to make, so if the winners want to keep their prize, they need to pay for it in full.

But that sum pales in comparison to the cost of even getting nominated: as entertainment awards site Gold Derby editor Tom O'Neil told The Daily Beast , it's big business.

"It's odd to think that Hollywood would spend more than $US30 million a year to win a fake gold statuette that costs $400 to manufacture ... But it's a place in the history books, the approval of your peers. It's a pat on the back they crave."

THE AWARD FOR THE MOST EMMYS GOES TO ...

Unsurprisingly, the incredibly popular Saturday Night Live has won the most Emmys of any individual TV show.

Over its 42-year history, the show has racked up a total of 231 nominations and 52 wins.

But coming in close behind is the Academy Awards, racking up 46 wins out of 220 nominations (as of 2014.)

The Oscars broadcast usually averages nine Emmy nominations per year in various technical categories, as well as nods for the host and the program itself.

THE CHARACTER OF DR FRASIER CRANE MADE EMMYS HISTORY

Actor Kelsey Grammer managed to snag Emmys nods for the same character across three shows - making him the only actor to ever do so.

The insanely popular Dr Frasier Crane was nominated for Cheers, Wings and Frasier.

(In fact, Frasier was such a hit that the show won 37 times from 108 nominations across its 11-year run.)

THE EMMYS ARE NAMED AFTER A CAMERA TUBE

The word Emmy refers to the statuette handed out to TV's big winners, but the actual name comes from a camera tube called an image orthicon - known to those in the industry as Immy.

Once the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences settled on the design of the statuette (a winged woman holding an atom), they modified Immy to the more feminine Emmy.

The Emmy's will be on Sky's Vibe channel from 2pm this afternoon.