The 78th annual Emmy Awards ceremony was held on September 14, 2026, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles and broadcast in the U.S. on NBC. It featured 41 main categories, plus many others that were not broadcast, like animation, art director, and narrator. Five series received the most nominations, with The Pitt topping the list with 25 nominations, followed by Hacks with 24, Widow’s Bay with 19, Pluribus with 18, and Beef with 16. The winners were reported in VideoAge‘s September 15 edition.
However, a month earlier, THR touched upon a little explored subject: Why do outstanding international programs not get Emmys? To that, VideoAge‘s Water Cooler responded with a more topical topic: What are the Emmy requirements? And, as a follow-up: Does a program have to be produced in the U.S., or shown first in the U.S. to qualify for an Emmy?
To answer those questions, VideoAge‘s Water Cooler called upon Laurel Whitcomb, vice president, Marketing, for at the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS), which awards the primetime Emmys (the daytime Emmys are awarded by the New York City-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences).
“For a non-U.S. produced TV program,” replied Whitcomb, “to qualify in the Emmy Awards that the Television Academy administers, there needs to be a U.S. production entity involved.” She then continued: “Here’s the official language from our rule book –– ‘Foreign television production is ineligible unless it is the result of a co-production (both financially and creatively) between U.S. and foreign partners, which precedes the start of production, and with a purpose to be shown on U.S. television.'”
VideoAge‘s Water Cooler then asked: But what about if an American distributor finances the production with a pre-distribution buy? In other words, pays some of the production costs with a distribution agreement? Whitcomb replied: “If the U.S. financier/distributor does what you have mentioned, but doesn’t have any creative input in the program, the program won’t qualify in our U.S. Emmy Award competition.”
In effect, the Academy leaves open foreign Emmy Award participation to U.S. distributors who finance production as a co-producer with a distribution agreement, as long as the distributor is also listed as having some creative input.
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