The Television Academy says it will put some guardrails around the use of artificial intelligence in submissions for the Emmy Awards.
As part of a number of rule changes for the 2026 Emmy Awards, the Academy is adding a statement about AI in its rules and procedures manual, which will be posted later in January. The statement reads, “The Television Academy reserves the right to inquire about the use of AI in submissions. The core of our recognition remains centered on human storytelling, regardless of the tools used to bring it to life.”
Among the other rule changes: The Emmys will drop the word “television” from the category previously known as outstanding television movie and make some changes to categories for short-form programs, sound mixing and music.
The name change for outstanding movie, as the category will now be known, came about “to more accurately reflect the evolving landscape of cinematic content created for broadcast or streaming.” The category includes big-budget films released directly to streamers as well as the more traditional definition of TV movie. (Netflix’s Rebel Ridge won the award in 2025.)
The short-form categories (nonfiction/reality and comedy/drama/variety) will now be tracked, the academy says, and recognize both original series and those based on or derived from other programming. The number of nominees will be proportional to submissions in each subcategory.
In the music field, the academy is expanding the best main title theme music category to include “main-on-end” themes — music that plays after the final act and before the end credits start to roll. Additionally, the best original music score for nonfiction and documentary programming will expand to include reality shows as well. The Emmys have also split sound mixing for unscripted programming into two categories, nonfiction and reality.
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