The 2026 Emmy Awards air live Monday, September 14, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on NBC, with a simultaneous live stream and on-demand replay on Peacock. Mariska Hargitay hosts the 78th Emmys from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. For U.S. viewers, that is the essential answer: NBC for broadcast, Peacock for streaming, and one coast-to-coast start rather than a delayed West Coast telecast.
This year’s ceremony arrives with a useful twist for anyone who has not kept up with every prestige drama and comedy. The two nomination leaders—The Pitt and Hacks—are not merely familiar incumbents coasting through another awards cycle. The Pitt leads the field with 25 nominations for its second season, while the fifth and final season of Hacks set a record for the most comedy nominations in a single year, with 24. The telecast is therefore both a scoreboard and a snapshot of what television institutions think mattered this season.
2026 Emmys date, time and channel
| What | U.S. viewing details |
|---|---|
| 78th Emmy Awards | Monday, September 14, 2026 |
| Start time | 8 p.m. Eastern / 7 p.m. Central / 6 p.m. Mountain / 5 p.m. Pacific |
| TV channel | NBC |
| Streaming | Live and on demand on Peacock |
| Host | Mariska Hargitay |
| Venue | Peacock Theater at L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles |
The Television Academy says NBC’s broadcast will be live coast to coast. That wording matters on the West Coast: the ceremony begins at 5 p.m. Pacific, at the same moment it starts at 8 p.m. Eastern. Viewers who plan to watch after dinner should use Peacock’s on-demand option and avoid social media if they do not want the winners spoiled.
How to stream the Emmys without confusing it with the other broadcasts
The main Emmy ceremony is on NBC and Peacock. The Creative Arts Emmys are a separate program with a separate viewing plan. Those awards were presented over two nights on September 5 and 6, then edited into one broadcast airing Saturday, September 12, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on FXX. That program becomes available on Hulu the following day.
In other words, Hulu carries the Creative Arts program, not the live September 14 primetime ceremony. Peacock is the streaming destination for the main show. The distinction is easy to miss because all three nights belong to the 78th Emmy Awards, but they honor different groups of categories and appear on different services.
There is also a free official second-screen option. The Television Academy’s “Backstage LIVE!” stream begins at 5 p.m. PT on September 14 on Emmys.com and the Academy’s YouTube channel. It is not a substitute for the NBC telecast; it offers backstage cameras, winner interviews, the Thank You Cam and clips from the red carpet, show and press room. It is best treated as a companion on a laptop or tablet.
The two series at the center of the night
The Pitt leads every program
The second season of HBO Max’s medical drama The Pitt enters with 25 nominations, the highest total for any program. Its haul includes Outstanding Drama Series and acting recognition for Noah Wyle, Katherine LaNasa and Shawn Hatosy, along with a deep bench of additional performers. The drama-series contest also includes The Gilded Age, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Pluribus, Slow Horses, Your Friends & Neighbors and The Diplomat.
The breadth of that category is part of the story. HBO Max has three nominees, Apple TV has three, and Netflix has one. The race is less a simple streaming-versus-broadcast narrative than a contest among distinct versions of prestige television: medical urgency, historical spectacle, fantasy, espionage, political drama and stranger genre hybrids.
Hacks closes with a comedy record
Hacks earned 24 nominations for its fifth and final season, breaking the single-year comedy record of 23 previously shared by The Studio in 2025 and The Bear in 2024. Its Outstanding Comedy Series competition includes Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Margo’s Got Money Troubles, Nobody Wants This, Only Murders in the Building, Shrinking and Widow’s Bay.
A final-season sweep is never guaranteed, but the record gives the ceremony a clean dramatic question: will the industry’s affection for Hacks translate into a farewell victory, or will one of the category’s newer or still-evolving shows interrupt the goodbye?
Why this field feels less settled than the totals suggest
Large nomination counts create favorites, not certainty. The Television Academy identified 28 first-time acting nominees across the 2026 field. That list ranges from performers attached to heavily nominated series to names arriving through newer shows and guest appearances. The result is a ceremony in which established programs can dominate the technical totals while individual acting races still produce genuine first-time moments.
The limited-series category offers another compact viewing map. Its five nominees are The Beast in Me, Beef, All Her Fault, DTF St. Louis and Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette. If you only have time to sample one category before Monday, this is the manageable one: five self-contained contenders rather than seasons of ongoing television.
Some awards have already been handed out. The Creative Arts ceremonies recognized crafts, technical work, guest performers and other categories on September 5 and 6. Their existence does not make the Monday show a recap. The primetime ceremony carries the high-profile series and lead-performance races, while Saturday’s FXX edit provides the fuller picture of how television is actually made.
When the red carpet coverage starts
Viewers who want arrivals and interviews have several official options. E!’s coverage begins with Countdown to the Emmys from 5 to 6 p.m. ET, followed by Live From E!: The Emmys from 6 to 8 p.m. ET. CNN and Variety begin their streaming red-carpet program at 5 p.m. ET for CNN streaming subscribers. NBC also plans a TikTok red-carpet livestream from 4 to 5 p.m. PT.
The practical approach is to choose one pre-show rather than channel-hop for three hours. E! provides the traditional television runway into the ceremony. The NBC TikTok stream is timed for the final hour before the West Coast start. The Academy’s backstage stream begins when the awards do and is designed for viewers who want access beyond the carpet.
How to watch outside the United States
The Academy has confirmed live or delayed broadcasts across multiple English-speaking markets. In Canada, the show airs live on CTV and Crave at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on September 14. Australia’s Showcase carries it live Tuesday, September 15, at 10 a.m. AEST, with an encore at 8:30 p.m. AEST. In the United Kingdom, LG 1 on LG Channels begins its red carpet at midnight BST and the awards at 1 a.m. BST on September 15. New Zealand’s Rialto has a delayed broadcast, with a 5:30 p.m. local pre-show and 6:30 p.m. ceremony on September 15.
International rights and platform availability can change by territory, so viewers should confirm the local listing on the day. The Academy’s official watch page is the best reference because it separates live, encore and delayed presentations rather than presenting them as one global stream.
A simple watch plan for Monday night
Start a red-carpet feed at 6 p.m. ET if fashion and arrivals matter to you; otherwise, join NBC or Peacock shortly before 8 p.m. ET. Keep the Academy’s backstage stream open only if the extra cameras will add more than they distract. If you miss the live show, use Peacock’s on-demand replay rather than piecing together winner clips.
And if the names in the series races feel unfamiliar, remember the two numbers that frame the evening: 25 nominations for The Pitt, 24 for Hacks. One leads the entire field; the other arrives with a comedy record and a final-season narrative. Everything else—from first-time nominees to a crowded drama race—is the reason to watch instead of merely checking the winners the next morning.
Sources
- Television Academy, “Where to Watch the Emmy Awards” — published September 9, 2026; covers the September 12 Creative Arts broadcast and September 14 main ceremony, pre-shows and international carriage.
- Television Academy, “78th Emmy Nominations: New Shows, Bold Stories and First-Time Nominees” — published July 8, 2026; nominations announced July 8, 2026.
- Television Academy, “78th Emmy Awards Night Two Winners Announced” — published September 6, 2026; second Creative Arts ceremony held September 6, 2026.
