How to Watch the 2020 Primetime Emmy Awards

Awards season has begun and while this year things look quite a bit different thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as they say the show must go on and that means that the 2020 Primetime Emmys will take place tonight to recognize excellence in the television industry. For the first time ever, the awards are being remotely produced with Jimmy Kimmel hosting the show without an audience from the Staples Center in Los Angeles as nominees participate virtually from all over the world. Here’s how to watch the event.

While the production of the awards ceremony is different this year, the broadcast remains generally the same. The Emmys will air live on ABC starting at 8 p.m. ET with a pre-show airing from 6:30 p.m. ET until ceremony start. The ceremony will also be available on ABC.com and the ABC app, though viewers tuning on ABC.com may need their cable provider login. Viewers will also be able to tune in on YouTube TV and Hulu TV, though both of those do require subscription.

As for what viewers will see when they tune in, despite being a very different sort of awards ceremony this year, the Emmys will still feature quite a few celebrity guests and performances. Oprah Winfrey, Issa Rae, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jason Sudeikis, Sterling K. Brown and more. Kimmel recently told The Hollywood Reporter that he’ll consider the experience a success if it’s not boring.

“…It isn’t boring. That’s the thing that worries me most. And not having audience reaction can cast a bit of a pall over everything,” he said. “I don’t want it to feel like a business meeting. I want it to be fun and funny. Also, you hear about high school kids who didn’t get to graduate in the normal way — this is the Hollywood version of that. People like Catherine O’Hara or Eugene Levy, you want them to have their moment in the sun and to make it as celebratory as possible.”

In terms of nominations, it could be a very big evening for HBO’s Watchmen. The series was nominated for a total of 26 awards — the most of any program this year. The list includes Outstanding Limited Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for Jeremy Irons, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for Regina King, and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jovan Adepo, and Louis Gossett Jr.

The 2020 Primetime Emmys air tonight, Sunday, September 20th beginning at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.