For the third consecutive year, we are examining which Emmy-nominated titles and stars garnered the most viewing during the Television Academy’s eligibility window of June 1, 2025 to May 31, 2026. As usual, we offer the disclaimer that this has no bearing on who the actual winners will be, but reflects our curiosity about how American viewers voted with their time. The actual ceremony is set to air on Monday, September 14th at 8pm on NBC and Peacock.
This year we will only be covering our winners for the major program categories in this article, but if you are curious, you will still have an opportunity to get the results of the acting awards as well!
Let’s get into it.
Outstanding Drama Series
After finishing in fourth place last year, HBO Max’s The Pitt takes home the Drama viewing trophy for 2026 with nearly 400 million viewing hours. The medical drama has had quite a year, with viewing for its second season outpacing the first; no easy feat in today’s fragmented landscape. And, The Pitt stood as the number two Original and number three streaming series overall through the first half of the year.
HBO’s The Gilded Age finished at number two in our rankings, and was joined by A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms to give Warner Bros. Discovery a total of three nominated series–including the winner–matching its performance from 2025. Apple TV also had a total of three nominees this year, up from two last year. Slow Horses was in the running for the third consecutive year, and was joined by Your Friends and Neighbors and Pluribus.
Outstanding Comedy Series
ABC’s Abbott Elementary is our comedy winner for the second straight year with 181 million viewing hours. The series is a prime example of multiplatform power; it continues to perform well in primetime for ABC, and receives a huge boost from both recent episodes and prior season viewing on Hulu and Disney+.
Though Abbott Elementary held a commanding lead, it’s worth noting that Apple TV’s Shrinking finished in the number two slot. As we’ve noted previously, Apple TV is not as well-penetrated as many of its competitors, so to see one of its series ranked so high speaks to its momentum.
Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series
Last year, Netflix took the win in this category with Monsters: The Lyle & Erik Menendez Story, and managed to repeat the feat in 2026 with another crime thriller: The Beast in Me. The show had a strong run in late 2025, making our list of Top 10 Originals for eight consecutive weeks.
Peacock’s All Her Fault gets an honorable mention for finishing as a strong number two, itself making our Top 10 four weeks in a row.
Outstanding Reality Competition Series
CBS’s Survivor reached a major milestone this year with its 50th season, and also made our Streaming Top 10 for the very first time. So, it’s no surprise that the long-running series achieved the top spot in this category for the second year in a row. Another long-running show, Dancing with the Stars, took the number two slot, while Peacock’s The Traitors landed at number three. Traitors has been a strong performer so far this year, notching nearly 129 million viewing hours through June.
Outstanding Movie
Netflix and Prime Video went head-to-head with two nominees each in this category, but it was the latter’s action comedy Heads of State that ultimately took the viewing crown this year. Netflix’s Remarkably Bright Creatures and People We Meet on Vacation occupied the two and three positions however, putting up very similar numbers with around 37 million viewing hours.
Curious who came out on top in the acting categories — and the streaming data behind it? Get the full breakdown here.
Measurement Methodology
For nominated programs and movies:
Total viewing hours across broadcast, cable, and streaming were tallied for the Emmy eligibility period of June 1, 2025 – May 31, 2026.
For nominated actors:
Total viewing hours across broadcast, cable, and streaming were tallied for any title featuring the nominee during the eligibility period, with some guidelines:
They must be a named character
Must be in the top-billed cast
Voice work, cameos, shorts, and brief recurring roles are excluded
All information above sourced from Gracenote StudioSystem
