PBS SoCal, KMEX lead L.A. Emmys; KVEA, KABC win newscasts
PBS SoCal, KMEX lead the 2026 L.A. Area Emmy Awards after Saturday night's ceremony at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. PBS SoCal won eight Emmys and Univision's KMEX took seven, while Telemundo's KVEA and KABC/ABC7 claimed the top regularly scheduled newscast prizes.
Key Takeaways
- PBS SoCal (KOCE and KCET) won eight L.A. Area Emmys, the most of any outlet.
- Univision's KMEX finished second with seven wins; Telemundo's KVEA took six.
- KVEA won daytime and evening newscast Emmys; KABC/ABC7 won the morning newscast Emmy.
- KABC's David Ono received the 2026 Los Angeles Area Emmy Governors Award.
- Eligibility covered the 2025 calendar year, with many news winners tied to January wildfire coverage.
Who won the most L.A. Area Emmys this year?
PBS SoCal was the night's biggest winner, landing eight awards across live events programming, entertainment, crime/social issues, arts, and more. According to Variety's full winners report, Univision's KMEX followed with seven, and Telemundo's KVEA earned six.
Other station tallies included KABC/ABC7 and KNBC/NBC4 with four each, Spectrum News 1 and Spectrum SportsNet with two each, plus single wins for LA36, Spectrum SportsNet LA, and USC football. PBS SoCal also led nominations with 29, ahead of KABC (21), KMEX (20), KVEA (18), KNBC (15), and Spectrum News 1 (10).
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Which stations took the top newscast Emmys?
KVEA again won the regularly scheduled daily daytime and daily evening newscast Emmys, for "Noticiero Telemundo 52 Al Mediodia" and "Noticiero Telemundo 52 A las 11pm." Last year, KVEA swept all three dayparts, including morning.
This year, KABC/ABC7 took the morning newscast Emmy for "Eyewitness News at 6am." Station newscast awards have no nominations; every submitting TV station is eligible. The 2026 ceremony was hosted by KABC entertainment reporter George Pennacchio and produced by Bob Bain and Bob Bain Productions.
KABC's David Ono received the Governors Award for more than three decades of broadcasting and in-depth storytelling. Co-anchor Jovana Lara presented the honor. Los Angeles Area Governors Greg Taylor and Brian DeCloux oversee the chapter.
Why do these Local Emmy wins matter for L.A. TV?
The wins spotlight how public media and Spanish-language stations continue to dominate local recognition in Los Angeles. PBS SoCal's haul spanned education, arts, entertainment, and live specials such as the "66th Annual LA County Holiday Celebration," while KMEX scored in culture/history, informational series, and news storytelling.
Because the eligibility window was the 2025 calendar year, many news-category winners reflected coverage of the devastating wildfires that hit the region last January. ABC7 won live coverage of an unscheduled news event for "Breaking News: SoCal Firestorms" and an investigative Emmy for a Palisades Fire follow-up six months later.
For viewers and industry watchers, the L.A. Area Emmys remain a clear scoreboard of which local outlets are setting the pace in news, culture, sports, and public-service programming across Southern California's crowded TV market.