Disney Wins 21 News & Documentary Emmy Awards

May 29, 2026 Roger Palmer

This week, the News & Documentary Emmy Awards took place at Jazz at Lincoln Centre’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City, and Disney picked up 21 Emmy Awards across its ABC News and National Geographic studios, for shows that are available to stream on Hulu and Disney+.

The News & Documentary Emmy Awards honour programming content from more than 2,300 submissions that originally premiered in the calendar year 2025, judged by a pool of over 1,000 peer professionals from across the television and streaming/digital media industry. Entries must have been originally broadcast nationally or made available via a streaming platform between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2025.

National Geographic won 13 News & Documentary Emmy Awards, breaking its all-time record. These included seven awards for “Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller,” which also stood for the third consecutive year as the most-nominated series ever, and six awards for “Secrets of the Penguins,” “Lost in the Jungle,” “Underdogs” and “Chris Hemsworth: A Road Trip to Remember,” underscoring the brand’s continued commitment to telling stories that inspire a deeper connection to our world.

While ABC News picked up eight wins from its 47 nominations, with “ABC World News Tonight with David Muir” earning its fourth consecutive Emmy for Outstanding Live News Program. In addition, the program picked up Emmys for Outstanding Live News Special and Outstanding Technical Excellence. With three wins, ABC News Live took home the most Emmy Awards in the streaming channel’s history for Outstanding Live Breaking News, Outstanding Recorded News Special and Outstanding Light Feature: Long Form. ABC News Studios earned three awards for Outstanding Interview: Long Form, Outstanding Recorded News Special and Outstanding True Crime Coverage. In addition, “20/20” took home awards for Outstanding Live News Special and Outstanding Light Feature: Long Form.

In addition, “This Week” co-anchor and chief global affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz was honoured with the News Emmys Lifetime Achievement Award, and senior vice president Kerry Smith and senior executive producer David Sloan were inducted into the 2026 Gold and Silver Circle Honour Society.

Here is the complete list of Disney’s Emmy wins:

Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller (National Geographic) – 7 Wins

Outstanding Science & Tech Coverage – “Scam City”
Outstanding Climate, Environment or Weather Coverage – “Shark Hunters”
Outstanding Health or Medical Coverage – “The Tranq Dope Underground”
Outstanding Arts, Culture or Entertainment Coverage – “Underground Street Racing”
Outstanding Social Issue Coverage – “Black Market Love”
Outstanding Research: News – “Brides for Sale”
Outstanding Direction: News – “Black Market Live”

Underdogs (National Geographic) – 2 Wins

Outstanding Writing: Documentary
Outstanding Sound: Documentary

Secrets of the Penguins (National Geographic) – 2 Wins

Outstanding Nature Documentary
Outstanding Cinematography: Documentary – “Hearts of the Emperors”

Lost in the Jungle (National Geographic Documentary Films) – 1 Win

Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary

Chris Hemsworth: A Road Trip to Remember (National Geographic) – 1 Win

Outstanding Promotional Announcement: Documentary

ABC News Studios (ABC News) – 3 Wins

*Outstanding Recorded News Special: “The Children of Gaza”
Outstanding Interview: Long Form: “Eric Dane Speaks: The Diane Sawyer Interview”
Outstanding True Crime Coverage: “Wicked Game: Devil in the Desert” (Hulu, ABC News Studios)

ABC News Live (ABC News) – 2 Wins

*Outstanding Recorded News Special: “The Children of Gaza”
*Outstanding Light Feature Story: Long Form: “Operation Babylift: The 50-Year Journey”
Outstanding Live Breaking News: “U.S. Army’s Grand Military Parade”

20/20 (ABC News) – 2 Wins

*Outstanding Live News Special: “American Catastrophe: LA Burning”
*Outstanding Light Feature Story – Long Form: “Operation Babylift: The 50-Year Journey”

ABC World News Tonight with David Muir (ABC News) – 3 Wins