NBCUniversal and the Television Academy are ahead of schedule, announcing an 2026 Emmy date much earlier than usual. The TV Academy hasn’t yet unveiled next year’s Emmy calendar, but it alreadt has a date for the ceremony: Monday, Sept. 14, 2026 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
The move to Monday is no surprise, given that NBC and Peacock hold the rights to the 78th event. In recent years, when it’s NBC’s turn to air the Emmys (under the soon-to-expire network “wheel deal”), the network moves the show to Mondays in order to avoid its broadcast of Sunday Night Football.
The last time NBC had the Emmys, in 2022, the show was held on Monday, Sept. 12, and hosted by “Saturday Night Live” star Kenan Thompson. In 2017, NBC held the event — hosted by “SNL Weekend Update” anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che, on Monday, Sept. 17. For the three times NBC had the Emmys before that, it had moved the telecast to August, before the NFL season began — but that was ultimately deemed too early, as it came several weeks before the traditional start of the fall TV season.
NBC’s telecast will rep the final Emmys under the current “wheel deal.” The window for the TV Academy to start negotiations on a new contract began after the most recent telecast, but there’s no indication that talks have heated up just yet. The most recent eight-year deal, signed by the Big 4 in 2018, cost about $8.25 million in annual license fees.
The TV Academy could opt to simply renew the current contract, add more networks/platforms (like Netflix) or go the exclusive route with one outlet. That could be dangerous, however: As the TV Academy learned in the past, having an exclusive partner might mean more marketing, but it might also alienate all of the other networks/platforms that right now help support the org. (Variety‘s idea: Create a “road block,” in which the entire industry airs the Emmys and helps pay for it.)
The 2025 Emmys, hosted by comedian Nate Bargatze on CBS, didn’t wow the critics but the kudocast brought in 7.4 million viewers, up 8% increase from 6.9 million viewers in 2024, and making it the most-watched Emmys since 2021. Top honors went to “The Studio,” “The Pitt” and “Adolescence” for the outstanding comedy, drama and limited series awards, respectively. “The Studio” was the winningest show of the year, taking home 13 Emmys total. See the full list of winners here.
Jesse Collins, Dionne Harmon and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay of Jesse Collins Entertainment were all back as executive producers of the 77th Emmys for the third consecutive time; there’s no word yet if they’ll be back for another round.
The Emmys continue to take place at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live; more calendar dates, including Emmy noms, will be announced at a later date.
Meanwhile, the week before, the Creative Arts Emmy Awards will take place on Saturday, Sept. 5 and Sunday, Sept. 6.
variety.com
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