The 57-year-old said he was "astonished and excited" by the nomination for the Channel 4 quiz show Deal Or No Deal, a surprise hit of the season.
Edmonds has been shortlisted for Best Entertainment Performance, his first British Academy Television Awards (Bafta) nomination. Deal Or No Deal has become one of Channel 4's biggest success stories, with an audience of five million. The presenter is said to be about to sign a new £3m deal.
Another old timer to return to the limelight is Doctor Who, which was last nominated in 1977 and is now up for Best Drama Series.
The BBC has done particularly well this year, with 47 out of the 76 nominations, while ITV has just seven. Channel 4 has 20, while Five and Sky have one each.
The Beeb's lavish adaptation of Dickens's Bleak House leads the field with four nominations, including one for the former X-Files actor Gillian Anderson, for Best Actress. And the political satire The Thick Of It has three nominations - Best Sitcom, and Best Comedy Performance for Chris Langham and Peter Capaldi.
Sky News and the BBC Ten O'Clock News have received nominations for their coverage of the London bombings, alongside ITV Evening News for its coverage of the shooting of Jean Charles De Menezes, and Channel 4 News for revealing the Attorney General's legal advice to Tony Blair before the invasion of Iraq.
The Queen's Sister, the drama about Princess Margaret's life, is nominated in the Best Single Drama category, while Lucy Cohu is up for Best Actress for the title role.
Bernard Hill's performance as former Home Secretary David Blunkett in A Very Social Secretary has earned him a chance at Best Actor, and Channel 4's coverage of England's Ashes victory is among the nominees for the Best Sport award.
Davina McCall is set to host the awards ceremony on 7 May.
The nominations
* Best Actor: Bernard Hill, A Very Social Secretary (More4); Denis Lawson, Bleak House (BBC1); Mark Rylance, The Government Inspector (C4); Rufus Sewell, The Taming of the Shrew (BBC1)
* Best Actress: Gillian Anderson, Bleak House (BBC1); Lucy Cohu, The Queen's Sister (C4); Anne-Marie Duff, Shameless (C4); Anna Maxwell Martin, Bleak House (BBC1)
* Best Entertainment Performance: Jeremy Clarkson, Top Gear (BBC2); Jack Dee, Jack Dee Live at the Apollo (BBC1); Noel Edmonds, Deal Or No Deal (C4); Jonathan Ross, Friday Night With Jonathan Ross (BBC1)
* Best Comedy Performance: Peter Capaldi, The Thick Of It (BBC4); Ashley Jensen, Extras (BBC2); Chris Langham, The Thick Of It (BBC4); Catherine Tate, The Catherine Tate Show (BBC2)
* Best Single Drama: The Government Inspector (C4); Much Ado About Nothing (BBC1); The Queen's Sister (C4); Red Dust (BBC2)
* Best Drama Series: Bodies (BBC3); Doctor Who (BBC1); Shameless (C4); Spooks (BBC1)
* Best Drama Serial: Bleak House (BBC1); Fingersmith (BBC1); Funland (BBC3); To The Ends of the Earth (BBC2)
* Best Continuing Drama: Casualty (BBC1); Coronation Street (ITV1); EastEnders (BBC1); Holby City (BBC1)
* Best Factual Series: 49UP (ITV1); Cocaine (C4); Coast (BBC2); Jamie's School Dinners (C4)
* Huw Wheldon Award for Specialist Factual: The Boy With The Incredible Brain (Five); Life in the Undergrowth (BBC1); Holocaust, A Music Memorial Film from Auschwitz (BBC2); No Direction Home - Bob Dylan (BBC2)
* Flaherty Award for Single Documentary: Children of Beslan (BBC2); Make Me Normal (C4); The Real Sex Traffic (C4); Taxidermy: Stuff the World (BBC2)
* Best Feature: The Apprentice (BBC2); Dragon's Den (BBC2); Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (C4); Top Gear (BBC2)
* Best Sport: The Ashes: England v Australia (C 4); Champions League Final Live: AC Milan v Liverpool (ITV1); Formula One - US Grand Prix (ITV1); The Open Golf Championship (final round of Jack Nicklaus) (BBC2)
* Best News Coverage: C4 News (The Attorney General story); BBC Ten O'Clock News (7 July bombs); ITV Evening News (the shooting of Jean Charles De Menezes); Sky News (7 July bombs)
* Best Current Affairs: "A Panorama Special: Undercover Nurse" (BBC1); "Dispatches: Beslan" (C4); "Dispatches: Iraq - The Reckoning" (C4); "Storyville: A Company of Soldiers" (BBC4)
* Best Interactivity: C4 News/Breaking The News; Coast (BBC); Not Forgotten/Lost Generation (C4); Shakespeare's Stories (BBC)
* Lew Grade Award for Best Entertainment Programme: Friday Night With Jonathan Ross (BBC1); Have I Got News For You (BBC1); Strictly Come Dancing (BBC1); The X Factor (ITV1)
* Best Sitcom: Extras (BBC2); Peep Show (C4); The Thick of It (BBC4); The Worst Week of My Life (BBC1)
* Best Comedy Programme or Series: The Catherine Tate Show (BBC2); Creature Comforts (ITV1); Help (BBC2); Little Britain (BBC1/BBC3)
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