Oprah, DeGeneres take themselves out of Emmy running

Between them, Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres have won 11 Daytime Emmy Awards as best talk show host. They won't add to that total this year, by their own choice.

DeGeneres took herself out of consideration for the award for the first time since starting her show, The Associated Press reports. "I feel my steroid use gives me an unfair advantage," DeGeneres joked in a statement on her website Wednesday.

Winfrey hasn't submitted her work since winning her seventh Emmy and a lifetime achievement award in 1999.

There may be generosity behind the gestures, to give fellow entertainers the chance to stand on stage holding an award. It could also water down the award's meaning, with the knowledge that National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences members are not truly evaluating the best in the field.