2026 Critics Choice Awards Land Early January 2026 Date
The Critics Choice Association (CCA) announced today that the 31st annual Critics Choice Awards will take place on Sunday, January 4, 2026, making them the first televised awards show of the 2025/2026 season.
Returning to E! for the second year in a row, the telecast will also air live across USA Network from 7:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT and will once again be held at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica and will continue its combined film and television awards format, honoring the best in cinematic, televised, and streaming achievement.
TV nominations for the annual event will be announced on Thursday, December 4, and film nominations will be announced on Friday, December 5.
“The Critics Choice Association is excited to kick off awards season as the first major televised show of 2026,” said CCA CEO Joey Berlin. “In our expanded partnership with E! and USA Network, we’re joined again in our shared mission to uplift the creative community and their incredible work – while also deepening our relationship with live events audiences and awards devotees alike. Together, we are proud to continue making the Critics Choice Awards a can’t-miss awards season destination, delivering unforgettable speeches and momentum-building moments championing our industry’s best. CCA is excited to build upon our three-decades of experience driving the awards conversation and, this year, take the lead with our show on January 4.”
“We’re honored to collaborate with the Critics Choice Association and bring this prestigious event to our audiences across E! and USA Network,” said Val Boreland, President, Entertainment, “SpinCo.” “As this distinguished ceremony continues to be one of the most anticipated nights of awards season, we can’t wait to kick off awards season with CCA in celebrating Hollywood’s biggest moments of the year.”
Last year, the CCA honored Anora as the best film of the year, a feat it would continue with PGA and the Oscar for Best Picture.
The 31st annual Critics Choice Awards show will be executive-produced by Bob Bain Productions and Berlin Entertainment. The Critics Choice Awards are represented by Dan Black at Greenberg Traurig, LLP.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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