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The Grammys Have Never Won a Top Program Emmy: Could This Be the Year?
The 2026 Grammy Awards telecast has been nominated for the Primetime Emmy for outstanding variety special (live), marking the 10th time the annual broadcast has received a top-programme nomination without ever winning. That keeps attention on whether this could finally be the year the Grammys break through, especially as it competes against other major live events including the Oscars, the Tonys, the Golden Globes and Apple Music’s Super Bowl LX halftime show. The nomination matters because it highlights the Grammys’ long-running prestige in television while also underscoring its repeated losses in one of the Emmys’ biggest categories.
The article notes that the Grammys has previously lost twice each to the Oscars and the Tonys, with other defeats spread across different programmes, and says the Bad Bunny-led Super Bowl halftime show may be its strongest rival this year. Several producers are competing against themselves across multiple nominated shows, including Jesse Collins, Raj Kapoor, Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner. It also points out that Trevor Noah has coincided with four of the six most recent Grammy telecasts to earn top-programme nominations, but he has said he will not return to host next year’s ceremony and no replacement has yet been announced.
In short
- The 2026 Grammys earned a 10th top Emmy nomination.
- The show has never won the category.
- Its strongest rival may be Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show.
Explained simply
The Grammy Awards is the annual ceremony celebrating music's most important achievements and one of television's most-watched live broadcasts. The Primetime Emmy for outstanding variety special is one of television's most respected awards, honouring the best live entertainment shows. This ceremony has been nominated for this Emmy multiple times over the years but has never won, which is the basis for ongoing interest in its prospects in this award category.
The Grammy Awards competes against other prestigious live broadcasts, including film industry awards, theatre awards and major sporting events. When it has lost in previous years, competing shows have included the Academy Awards ceremony and the Broadway theatre awards, alongside various other programmes. Several of the same producers and directors work across multiple competing shows, creating a situation where they sometimes find themselves competing against their own other projects.
The long pattern of Emmy nominations without victory reveals an interesting disconnect between the Grammy Awards' cultural importance and how television voters have valued it in this particular award category. The music industry's flagship ceremony enjoys enormous prestige and consistently attracts millions of viewers, yet it has not managed to win despite receiving nominations repeatedly. Questions also remain about the ceremony's future leadership, with hosting and other roles currently unsettled.