How To Watch The 2026 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards

We hope you're ready to get slimed, because the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards is back. Nick viewers worldwide have been voting for their favorite movies, TV shows, musical artists and more, and when the ceremony airs we'll find out who they've been digging this year.

The popular awards show dates back to 1987. The inaugural event was shown on the movie review series "Rated K: For Kids by Kids" and was originally known as "The Big Ballot." The following year, it was renamed the Kids' Choice Awards and was televised with live hosts, celebrity guests, and lots of slime. 

This year's famous guests could be drenched in Nickelodeon's iconic green slime at any given moment, a tradition that's become a big part of the ceremony. Read on to find out who's going to be there, when the ceremony airs, and everything else we know about the 2026 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards.

This year's Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards will take place on Saturday November 14, with the show kicking off at 8 p.m. Eastern time and 5 p.m. Pacific time. Interestingly, the event has only been held in November once before; the 6th annual ceremony back in 1992. The awards have historically taken place in either late March or early April. 

While the month of the show has never been set in stone, in the modern era, the Kids' Choice Awards have typically been held on a Saturday evening, when younger viewers tend to have more leeway when it comes to staying up late. It will run for one hour and 30 minutes in total, coming to a close at 9:30 p.m. ET and 6:30 p.m. PT.

The 2026 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards will be held at the Television City studio compound in Los Angeles, a historic 25-acre property in the city's Fairfax neighborhood. This is far from the first time the awards show has been held in the Los Angeles area, but it is the first time it will be held at Television City.

Previously, the ceremony has taken place at a variety of venues, including the Barker Hangar, the Microsoft Theater, USC's Galen Center, The Forum, UCLA's Pauley Pavilion, the Hollywood Bowl, the Grand Olympic Auditorium, the Pantages Theatre, and Universal Studios Hollywood.

The Kids' Choice Awards have also taken place in other cities a few times over the years. In 1994, a special east coast portion of the show was shot at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, and in 1996, parts of the show were shot aboard the S.S. Nickelodeon in New York Harbor. Historically, however, it's very much an L.A. thing.

This year's host at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards is singer and YouTuber Alex Warren. It's Warren's first time hosting the event, but not his first time on television: Earlier in 2026, he also appeared as an advisor to contestants on "The Voice," helping Adam Levine's team.

The Kids' Choice Awards have historically attracted top notch hosting talent, from pop stars to A-list actors. The 2025 show was led by Grammy-winning pop sensation Tyla, and NSYNC alum Justin Timberlake has previously hosted. Other musicians to host the show include Whitney Houston and Nick Jonas.

In terms of actors, the likes of Jack Black, Ben Stiller, and Will Smith have also hosted the ceremony in the past. Black has actually hosted the ceremony multiple times, and he's not the only returning host. Rosie O'Donnell is the reigning champ with eight consecutive hosting stints under her belt from 1996 to 2003.

This year's list of nominees is full of exciting talent who have given audiences and listeners an excellent year of entertainment. Netflix's "Stranger Things" (one of the best sci-fi shows of all time) leads the TV pack with seven nominations across several categories, including favorite family TV show. The other nominees in this hotly-contested category are "Abbott Elementary," "Ghosts," "Ginny & Georgia," "Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair," "Wednesday," and "XO, Kitty," and Netflix's live-action "One Piece," which will return with a third season in 2027.

Pop music icon Taylor Swift has the most individual nominations this year with nods in a total of six categories, including favorite female artist, favorite album, and favorite global music star. Her husband, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, is also nominated in two categories: favorite male sports star and favorite podcast. Sabrina Carpenter will compete for five awards in total, including favorite album.

Fan favorites Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo will go head-to-head in the favorite movie actress category for their work in "Wicked: For Good," while also being recognized for their wonderful collaboration with a favorite on-screen duo nomination. Grande will also vie for three more awards, including favorite female artist, which she has already won five times. Justin Bieber is up for favorite male artist this year, which he has already scooped five times.

They typically keep the crop small when it comes to performers at the Kids' Choice Awards, with just a few stars and a dance medley that includes recent popular tracks. This year viewers will be treated to Ashe singing her hit single "Stop the Wedding," and DJ duo Sofi Tukker will perform their track "Tsunami." The official release of the song includes OneRepublic, but the band is not slated to perform alongside the pair. 

In 2025, pop rapper and rocker Machine Gun Kelly performed his song "Cliche" and the beloved KPop girl group Katseye performed their hit track "Gnarly." For the dance medley, Lady Gaga's "Abracadabra," Ice Spice's "Think U The S—t (Fart)," Rhianna's "Friend of Mine," Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco's "Bluest Flame," and Tyla's "Water" and "Bliss" were the soundtrack — and Smurfette herself even made an appearance as one of the dancers.

If you want to watch the 2026 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards live, you have a few options to tune in. The ceremony will be broadcast live on both CBS and Nickelodeon this year, with this being the first time it will be aired on the basic cable network simultaneously. That means any cable subscription that includes Nickelodeon will get you there, as well as any television with a connection to basic cable that has access to CBS.

If you don't have easy access to cable, there are some streaming options. Internet-based live TV services such as YouTube TV and Fubo have access to CBS and Nickelodeon in select markets based on your plan, so those paid services would get you live access to the show on either channel. Additionally, streaming services such as Hulu that have live TV will also have access to CBS and Nickelodeon in select markets based on your plan, so those paid subscription plan services are also fair game.

Paramount+ will be a special hub for the Kids' Choice Awards this year, as Paramount is the parent company that owns Nickelodeon. Fans can catch the festivities live on Paramount+ through their local CBS livestream if they have a Paramount+ Premium subscription, and if not, Paramount+ Essential subscribers will be able to watch the ceremony on-demand the following day. Both subscription tiers will require a monthly fee.