Emmys: Variety & Reality Noms Revealed Early on Today Show
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- The Television Academy will reveal nominees for Outstanding Variety Series and Outstanding Reality Competition Program on NBC's Today between 4:45am–5:20am PT, splitting the announcement from the rest of the nominations.
- CBS broke this pattern last year by revealing the same two categories during its own morning show, and the Television Academy is following that lead for the second consecutive year.
- The rest of the Emmy nominations will be announced at 8:30am PT by Liza Colón-Zayas (The Bear) and Jeff Hiller (Widow's Bay), creating a roughly three-hour gap before the bulk of the nominees are unveiled.
- Favorites for Outstanding Variety Series include The Daily Show, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and Saturday Night Live — the first year of the merged category.
- Expected nominees for Outstanding Reality Competition Program include Top Chef (NBCU/Peacock), The Amazing Race and Survivor and RuPaul's Drag Race (all Paramount); NBC's The Voice is considered a possibility but was snubbed last year.
- Broadcast networks remain most represented in these two categories, which is why the Television Academy moved them up for a primetime-friendly morning showcase.
Why it matters: The staggered reveal gives broadcast-network categories — the two where broadcast TV still has the strongest foothold — prime morning-show oxygen before the streaming-dominated bulk of nominations drops at 8:30am PT, effectively a three-hour promotional runway for the Academy's broadcast-friendly contenders.
