Emmys Removes Categories From Telecast, Including Two Limited Acting

UPDATED: The DGA, SAG-AFTRA and the WGA issued a joint statement expressing their displeasure with the TV Academy’s decision to move five categories off the NBC telecast: “The Emmys exist to celebrate the best of television and the artists who are central to bringing these stories to life. The decision to eliminate these categories from the prime-time broadcast devalues the contributions of the talented people the Academy is meant to honor. An awards show dedicated to recognizing excellence should not reduce recognition for the artists whose work gives it meaning.”

The Television Academy plans to reduce the number of Emmy categories that are awarded during its primetime Emmy telecast on Sept. 14. On Thursday, the Academy’s Board of Governors voted to shift five categories to the earlier Emmy ceremonies on Sept. 5 and Sept. 6: Writing for a variety series, supporting actor and actress in a limited/anthology series or movie, directing for a limited series/anthology or movie and writing for a limited series/anthology or movie.

By trimming the number of awards presented in primetime to 19 (compared to 26 handed out last year), the org said it’s making a concerted effort to revitalize the ceremony — which rarely has time to include any entertainment due to the tremendous number of kudos that have to be handed out.

TV Academy chair Cris Abrego told Variety that he hopes moving out some awards creates more leeway for musical performances, comedic bits and unexpected acceptance speeches.

“We’re really excited to flex more creativity into the show,” he said. “This is not new, but the Academy’s always been committed to delivering an Emmy telecast that celebrates television, and also creating the best possible viewing experience. But it needs time, and that’s where we really want to find time to create an incredible night of entertainment that celebrates all of the Emmy winners.”

In picking these five categories to shift, Abrego said the plan was to spread it out across different disciplines, including performers, writers and directors. “There’s no perfect solution because every category obviously represents extraordinary work, but we really wanted just to take an approach to be as balanced and as equitable as possible,” he said. “So then, what we really did was rather than concentrating on the change in one discipline or one peer group, it’s a small number of categories across the performances, writing and directing.”

Abrego said the Academy plans to reach out to the guilds for those groups to explain the change, and knows that “there’s going to be some upset folks on this for sure. We want to honor respect members across all the professions and all the guilds, which we do across all three nights of the Emmys. This decision, though, was made to protect and enhance the future of the telecast and future of the Academy… the decision is really about ensuring that the Emmy Awards remain the premier celebration of television — not only for today’s industry, but for the future. Audiences are evolving and changing, and and so must the show.”

For the Emmys, it’s been a bit of an up-and-down performance post-pandemic. The 77th Emmy Awards last year on CBS averaged 7.4 million viewers in its live telecast, which was up 8% from the 2024 show on ABC (6.9 million) and made it the most-watched edition since 2021.

The revamp comes as the TV Academy mulls the fate of the Emmy telecast as the traditional network “wheel deal,” in which ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox take turns broadcasting the ceremony, expires after this year’s NBC edition. Abrego said Thursday’s decision was made separately from those negotiations, and is really focused on this year’s ceremony. But as the org negotiates a new deal, this could be seen as a good faith attempt to combat concerns that awards shows are no longer the audience draw they once were.

Meanwhile, with so many major awards switching to what has traditionally been known as the “Creative Arts Emmys,” the TV Academy is also dropping the “Creative Arts” distinction for the Sept. 5 and Sept. 6 ceremonies — and now will refer to all three events (including the Sept. 14 telecast) as simply the “Emmys.”

“It’s something that I’ve really felt strongly about, every Emmy is incredibly valuable,” Abrego said. “We’re bringing equity to all that part of it. Emmy night one, night two and night three, they’re all Emmys.”

In recent years, the two nights of the Creative Arts Emmys have been edited into a tape delayed special on FXX; talks are ongoing to bring that back this year with the first two nights of the Emmys.

Abrego said the decision to move categories and open up time on the Sept. 14 telecast has been done in cooperation with NBC and producers Jesse Collins Entertainment, which now will be charged with filling more of that time.

“It’s real time to get real creative to the show that we think is going to give it that juice,” he said. “Having just gone off a creative call with the team, it’s really going to be exciting.”

The Television Academy has made several attempts over the years to streamline the Emmys, but those plans have been met with controversy. In 2023, the Writers Guild of America protested a plan to move the outstanding writing for a variety series or special categories out of the Emmy telecast, in order to put the variety special (live) category into the telecast instead.

In 2009, the Directors’ Guild and the Writers’ Guild objected when the TV Academy revealed a plan to pre-tape award presentations in eight categories before the show. The idea was to still show the winners, but edit out the time they take to get on and off the stage — which would save several minutes from the telecast. Another plan — to hand out trophies to winners in their seats — was also nixed.

Most similarly to this year’s plan, the TV Academy attempted to move seven categories to the Creative Arts Emmys in 2005, until the guilds balked. Just like Friday’s announcement, the idea in 2005 involved moving several awards (in that case, it was for writing, directing and supporting actor and actress in a TV movie/mini as well as trophies for performing, writing and directing for variety programs) in order to free up space for other content on the Emmys telecast.

Back then, like now, there was concern over ratings declines and the need to make the Emmys a much more vibrant, enticing program for viewers. But the Academy eventually backed down from that idea after the WGA and DGA took issue with the Emmy proposals; the Academy’s director and writer peer groups drafted a compromise. But that plan, to save time by pre-taping acceptance speeches from several categories (in an attempt to save some time) also never took off.

The DGA and WGA have been able to gum up previous plans because they provide waivers that allow the TV Academy to show clips from nominated series for free on the telecast — and in the past have threatened to revoke those waivers when the Academy tries to streamline the show like this.

Outreach to the guilds is now the next step, Abrego said. “Obviously, this was something that was voted on by our board of governors and approved with some incredibly meaningful, thoughtful discussion,” he said. “This is not an easy decision, because I understand how people are going to feel about this. But when I started this role, I really believed that the responsibility was twofold. First was protecting integrity of the Emmy awards. Second was, continue evolving the image so they remain culturally meaningful for future generations.”

Here’s how the Academy framed it in a statement: “The Television Academy is committed to delivering a fresh new take on the Emmys broadcast, with a focus on entertainment that celebrates television shows, artists and moments audiences love while honoring excellent work from the past year. Given the extraordinary breadth of work recognized each year and the limited time available within a three-hour broadcast, a select number of categories will be moving to the Emmy ceremonies taking place the week prior to the telecast. This thoughtful evolution ensures this year’s NBC ceremony and future broadcasts remain deeply engaging and tailored to the television audience.”   

“Law & Order: SVU” star and exec producer — and 2006 lead drama actress Emmy winner — Mariska Hargitay (nominated twice this year for the doc “My Mom Jayne”) will host the 78th Emmys. The telecast, produced by Jesse Collins Entertainment, airs Monday, Sept. 14, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT from the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live, airing live on NBC and streaming on Peacock. The Emmy Awards formerly known as Creative Arts will take place Saturday, Sept. 5, and Sunday, Sept. 6.

Here is the plan for how this year’s three Emmy ceremonies, including the main event on Sept. 14, will be divided by category:

78th Emmy Awards Categories — Saturday, September 5, 2026

78th Emmy Awards Categories — Sunday, September 6, 2026

78th Emmy Awards NBC Telecast Categories — Monday, September 14, 2026