CBS to Air Two 'Best of VMAs' Primetime Specials Ahead of 2026 MTV Video Music Awards
CBS will air two primetime specials this September building toward the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards, pairing a look back at the ceremony's most storied performances with a second night devoted to its most talked-about moments. Both specials stream on Paramount+ (Premium) alongside their CBS broadcasts, according to Billboard. Billboard
Donnie Wahlberg hosts the first special, 'Best of VMAs: Iconic Vanguard Performances,' on Sunday, Sept. 13 at 9:30 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT. The programme draws on the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, the VMA's career-spanning honour presented since 1984, and revisits performances connected to past recipients.
Vanessa Lachey hosts the second, 'Best of VMAs: Unforgettable Moments,' on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Both specials are produced by Gunpowder & Sky, with Van Toffler producing. Toffler's name carries weight here: he was a longtime MTV Networks executive before founding Gunpowder & Sky, and the production company has worked across scripted and unscripted content for streaming and cable.
The 2026 VMAs themselves air live from the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on Sunday, Sept. 27, running 7:30–9:30 p.m. ET/4:30–6:30 p.m. PT on CBS, simulcast on MTV and streaming on Paramount+ (Premium). Jesse Ignjatovic of Den of Thieves, Barbara Bialkowski and Bruce Gillmer serve as executive producers for the main ceremony, alongside Gunpowder & Sky.
Madonna leads all nominees for the 2026 ceremony with 11 nominations, Billboard reports. The full nominee list and voting mechanics were not detailed in the announcement.
The two specials effectively stretch VMA season across three Sunday nights in September, moving from archival look-back to live ceremony. For viewers, the run-up offers a curated primer on the award's history before the current year's winners are decided.
For fans who follow the ceremony year-round, the Vanguard special in particular offers a rare chance to see past career-achievement performances collected in a single broadcast — the kind of programming that typically lives in scattered clips online rather than a network hour. The Peacock Theater, the VMAs' venue, is the same downtown Los Angeles venue that hosted the ceremony in 2023 and 2025.
