How to watch the Emmys 2025 for free: Time, live stream, nominations

It’s almost time for TV’s biggest night!

The 2025 Emmy Awards, which will celebrate the best in TV that aired between June 1, 2024 and May 31, 2025, are tonight, Sept. 14 on CBS and streaming live on Paramount+.

Apple TV+’s “Severance” is the most-nominated show going into tonight’s ceremony with 27 (10 of which fall into a “major” category). “The Penguin” leads limited series nominations with 27, and “The Studio” is the most-nominated comedy and the most-nominated freshman series this year with 23 nominations.

The Creative Arts Emmys, which kicked off Emmy festivities by giving out a number of non-major awards, took place last week on Sept. 6 and 7; following that ceremony, “The Studio” leads all shows with nine wins, including ones for guest actor, cinematography, costuming, and production design, among others..

The Bob Hope Humanitarian Award, a special award that is not given out every year, will return in 2025 and be awarded, for the first time, to a couple. Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen will become the sixth and seventh people to receive the award, which recognizes recipients “whose philanthropic efforts exemplify Bob Hope’s decades-long altruism and positive impact on society.”

Here’s everything you need to know to tune in to the Emmys tonight without cable (for free, too, we might add).

Emmys 2025 date and time:

The Emmys begin at 8 p.m. ET tonight, Sept. 14.

What channel are the Emmys on?

This year, the Emmy Awards are on CBS.

How to watch the 2025 Emmys live for free:

If you don’t have cable, you’ll need a live TV streaming service to watch tonight’s Emmy Awards live.

DIRECTV is our top pick for watching the 2025 Emmys live for free — its five-day free trial includes CBS. When the trial is over, you’ll pay as low as $49.99/month and gain access to over 90 live channels.

You can also stream the Emmys for free with Hulu + Live TV (three days free) and Paramount+ Premium (one week free).

Who is hosting the 2025 Emmys?

Comedian Nate Bargatze will host the 2025 Emmys. It marks the two-time “SNL” host’s award show-hosting debut.

“It’s a huge honor to be asked to host such an iconic awards show and I’m beyond excited to work with CBS to create a night that can be enjoyed by families around the world,” said Bargatze, in an April 2025 press release.

2025 Emmy nominations (top categories):

An exact number of awards being presented during tonight’s ceremony has not been confirmed, but last year, 26 awards were televised. In total, 118 Emmys will be handed out between tonight and last weekend’s Creative Arts ceremony.

Below, check out nominees in the top six program categories; you can check out a full list of categories and nominees on the Television Academy’s website.

Outstanding Comedy Series:

• “Abbott Elementary” (ABC)
• “The Bear” (FX/Hulu)
• “Hacks” (HBO Max)
• “Nobody Wants This” (Netflix)
• “Only Murders in the Building” (Hulu)
• “Shrinking” (Apple TV+)
• “The Studio” (Apple TV+)
• “What We Do in the Shadows” (FX)

Outstanding Drama Series:

• “Andor” (Disney+)
• “The Diplomat” (Netflix)
• “The Last of Us” (HBO)
• “Paradise” (Hulu)
• “The Pitt” (HBO Max)
• “Severance” (Apple TV+)
• “Slow Horses” (Apple TV+)
• “The White Lotus” (HBO)

Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series:

• “Adolescence” (Netflix)
• “Black Mirror” (Netflix)
• “Dying for Sex” (FX)
• “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” (Netflix)
• “The Penguin” (HBO)

Outstanding Reality Competition Program:

• “The Amazing Race” (CBS)
• “RuPaul’s Drag Race” (MTV)
• “Survivor” (CBS)
• “Top Chef” (Bravo)
• “The Traitors” (Peacock)

Outstanding Talk Series

• “The Daily Show” (Comedy Central)
• “Jimmy Kimmel Live”! (ABC)
• “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (CBS)

Outstanding Scripted Variety Series

• “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” (HBO)
• “Saturday Night Live” (NBC)

2025 Emmy presenters:

Ahead of the ceremony, the Television Academy announced a star-studded lineup of presenters, including Stephen Colbert and Sydney Sweeney. Also among them are past winners, including Anna Sawai and Alan Cumming, and current nominees, like Colman Domingo and Ike Barinholtz.

Two television mother-daughter pairings are also set to reunite as presenters: Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel (Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, “Gilmore Girls”); and Catherine Zeta-Jones and Jenna Ortega (Morticia and Wednesday Adams, “Wednesday”).

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This article was written by Angela Tricarico, Commerce Streaming Reporter for Post Wanted Shopping, Page Six, and New York Post’s streaming property, Decider. Angela keeps readers up to date with cord-cutter-friendly deals, and information on how to watch your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and movies on every streaming service. Not only does Angela test and compare the streaming services she writes about to ensure readers are getting the best prices, but she’s also a superfan specializing in the intersection of shopping, tech, sports, and pop culture. Prior to joining Decider and The New York Post in 2023, she wrote about streaming and consumer tech at Insider Reviews