Emmys Still Searching For A TV Rights Deal For 2027 Onwards As Simulcast Option Comes Into Focus
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- Television Academy is negotiating Emmys rights for 2027 onward since the current deal expires after the September 14, 2026 ceremony on NBC, with chairman Cris Abrego leading discussions with broadcasters and streamers.
- Simulcast option would have multiple broadcasters and streamers air the Emmys simultaneously, sharing rights costs of roughly $10M per year (up from the current ~$8M) and production expenses, with one company designated to sell ads annually.
- Broadcast networks are taking a cautious approach as the ceremony is no longer a major revenue generator; the four-network wheel started in 1995 after the Academy ended an earlier ABC deal amid boycott threats.
- Streamers including Netflix have downplayed solo ownership interest, even as HBO won nine Emmys, Apple seven and Netflix six last year, while the four broadcast networks combined for 99 nominations (down from 115) with CBS and NBC each winning only one statuette.
- Jesse Collins Entertainment has produced the ceremony for the last three years and will do so again in 2026.
- YouTube's late-2025 deal to take Oscar rights from ABC starting in 2029 is cited as a sign of where live TV awards could go.
- Academy has another meeting between Abrego and executives scheduled for mid-July to further scrutinize the options.
Why it matters: Broadcast networks are paying roughly $8M a year to host a ceremony they increasingly lose — 99 nominations and two combined wins between CBS and NBC last year — while streamers haul in the trophies without sharing the bill. A simulcast or expanded wheel would force those winning platforms to help foot the cost, potentially ending the long-running mismatch between who wins Emmys and who pays for them.
