Peacock's 'The Traitors' and Universal Television's 'Hacks' Lead NBCUniversal's 2026 Emmy Award Wins
The 2026 Emmys aired live on NBC on September 14, 2026, hosted by Mariska Hargitay.
September 17, 2026
The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards, held Monday, Sept. 14, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, delivered a memorable night for NBCUniversal across its broadcast, studios and streaming platforms.
78th PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS -- Pictured: Cast and crew including Stephen Lambert, Mike Cotton, Sam Rees-Jones, Rosie Franks and Alan Cumming accept the Outstanding Reality Competition Program Award for "The Traitors" on stage during the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Peacock Theater on September 14, 2026 -- (Photo by: Trae Patton/NBC)
Peacock's The Traitors cements its Emmy dominance
Peacock's The Traitors won Outstanding Reality Competition Program for the third consecutive year. With six wins at the Creative Arts Emmys and one on the primetime telecast, The Traitors collected a total of seven Emmys for the 2026 cycle, tying for the second-highest total of the year.
Host Alan Cumming accepted the award alongside the show's producers, praising the fans for making the show a communal viewing experience.
Cumming also took home the Emmy for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program.
Today Peacock announced three additional seasons of The Traitors, produced by Studio Lambert with Alan Cumming returning as host
78th PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS -- Pictured: Jean Smart accepts the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Award for "Hacks" from Zendaya on stage during the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Peacock Theater on September 14, 2026 -- (Photo by: Trae Patton/NBC)
Universal Television's Hacks Has Another Emmy-Winning Year
Universal Television's Hacks won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Jean Smart and Outstanding Picture Editing for a Single-Camera Comedy Series in its record-setting final season. With 25 nominations, Hacks set a new record for the most nominations ever received by a comedy series in a single year, as the series concludes with Hacks' lifetime Emmy total of 86 nominations and 13 wins.
Saturday Night Live Wins Its 99th Emmy
NBC's Saturday Night Live (SNL) picked up a Creative Arts Emmy for Outstanding Makeup for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program. Already the most Emmy-winning and Emmy-nominated show in television history, SNL now stands at 359 nominations and 99 wins.
78th PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS -- Pictured: Host Mariska Hargitay speaks on stage during the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Peacock Theater on September 14, 2026 -- (Photo by: Trae Patton/NBC)
Mariska Hargitay takes center stage as Emmys host and the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards Draws 6.8 Million Viewers
Mariska Hargitay, a four-time Emmy winner and star of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, hosted the 2026 ceremony on NBC. She was the first woman to host the award show in 15 years. Hargitay opened the ceremony with a song and later surprised the audience with a cameo from Taylor Swift. Hargitay herself won two Creative Arts Emmys for her documentary My Mom Jayne.
Across all platforms, last night’s Emmy Awards telecast delivered a combined 6.8 million total viewers and was the #1 entertainment show of the night against strong NFL competition. It was the most-watched Monday entertainment telecast of 2026 in both total viewers and the 18-49 demo, and NBC’s linear Emmys performance saw notable improvement among total viewers (+41%) from the last Monday airing of the Emmys on FOX (4.4M on 1/15/24).
Compared to the previous NBC telecast of the Emmys in 2022 across all platforms, last night’s show was +10% among total viewers, and was the best ever reach for a non-holiday NBC entertainment special simulstream on Peacock, behind only previous Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parades
On social, there were 133M video view counts generated across Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube, ranking #1 for the night and a 90% increase from last year’s Emmys, and 17M total interactions across Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube, which was also #1 for the night.
