The public alone decides the National Television Awards, and the 31st ceremony was broadcast live from The O2 this September.
The National Television Awards were broadcast live from The O2 on Tuesday 8 September 2026, the 31st ceremony since the prize began at Wembley in 1995.
The awards began at the Wembley Conference Centre in 1995 on a single principle that has held ever since: the public alone decides. There is no jury, no academy and no industry panel, and nominations open to the public before any shortlist is drawn, so even eligibility is settled outside the industry. The ceremony spent twelve years at the Royal Albert Hall from 1996, moved to The O2 in 2010, and has left it only once since, for a single year at Wembley Arena in 2022. Indigo Television has produced it throughout.
That voting rule gives the ceremony its character among British television prizes. Soaps, entertainment formats, daytime programmes and drama compete for the same public vote, and the categories are shaped by what viewers choose to nominate rather than by a committee’s list. Joel Dommett hosted for a sixth year running, having taken over in 2021 from David Walliams.
The 2026 ceremony returned to The O2 for its live broadcast, with the winners in every category decided by a public vote that had closed before the evening began, and Indigo Television producing the thirty-first edition as it has every edition since the first at Wembley.