Emmy Awards 2026 suffers shock ratings drop-off despite Taylor Swift cameo and Mariska Hargitay hosting for NBC

Ratings for the 78th primetime Emmy Awards dipped almost 10 percent from last year for Monday's broadcast on NBC, stemming from the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles.

According to Nielsen numbers Tuesday, the award show drew an estimated 6.7 million viewers for the broadcast, which was hosted by Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star Mariska Hargitay.

CBS's Emmys broadcast in 2025 had 7.42 million viewers, while ABC's version drew in 6.87 million viewers in 2024.

The least-viewed Emmys came in January 2024 on Fox - with 4.3 million viewers - following months of delays due to the entertainment industry strikes of the prior year.  

The award show traditionally cycles between all four major networks, an arrangement that might be concluding after more than three decades, as Variety reported Tuesday that Amazon Prime Video is in negotiation to air the show in future years. 

The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for NBC for further comment on the story.

NBCUniversal said that the show accumulated more than 133 million across social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and X, according to Variety.

The total marks a 90 percent bump in the metric from the previous year's broadcast, according to the outlet.

The show's number marked an improvement from the 5.92 million viewers NBC amassed during its last time broadcasting the show in 2022.

The broadcast also was the most-viewed non-sports or news broadcast on Monday this year, Deadline reported.

It was the ratings winner in demographics for overall viewers; and with adults between the age of 18 and 49, according to the outlet.

The award show had faced off against the initial Monday Night Football broadcast of the 2026 season on ESPN, with the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs playing.

Hargitay enlisted pal Taylor Swift for a taped segment in which the pop star said she wasn't attending, so as to support her new husband, Chiefs stalwart Travis Kelce. 

NBC had swapped this year's broadcast from Sunday to Monday so as not to interfere with its weekly Sunday Night Football broadcast.

With its annual spot in September, the Emmys typically faces off with high-rated NFL games, leading to consistently lesser numbers than award season staples such as the Academy Awards, Grammy Awards and Golden Globes.

Emmys viewership has gradually declined in recent decades amid a rise in streaming and niche shows, as in 2000, it garnered more than 21 million viewers.

The most recent broadcast to eclipse 10 million viewers was 2018's show, which had 10.2 million.

The big winner of Monday's show was Apple TV's comedy Widow's Bay, garnering a total of 14 Emmy awards, while The Pitt claimed the award for best drama for the second year in a row.