12th annual awards were held in January 1980. The awards reverted to a "late-in-year" ceremony for 1980 with the 13th annual awards held in December 1980.
* 1991, as the timing returned to early in the following calendar year to honor the previous year's work.
* 1995, when the awards were canceled due to financial concerns.

In 1982, the NAACP Image Awards was televised for the first time with the 15th ceremony. Initially, the NAACP Image Awards aired locally in Los Angeles on KHJ-TV (currently known as KCAL-TV)