CBS Is Warming Up for the VMAs With Two Throwback Specials
Mark those calendars on us: CBS is stretching out the road to the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards with not one, but two new Best of VMAs primetime specials.
First up is Best of VMAs: Iconic Vanguard Performances, hosted by Donnie Wahlberg, airing Sunday, September 13 at 9:30 p.m. ET / 9 p.m. PT on CBS and streaming on Paramount+ Premium.
That special will revisit the kind of career-defining Video Vanguard performances that helped make the VMAs appointment television in the first place — the giant production numbers, visual swings and artists who knew exactly how to use thee MTV stage.
Then on Sunday, September 20 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, former MTV VJ Vanessa Lachey hosts Best of VMAs: Unforgettable Moments, a second retrospective focused on the awards show’s most unpredictable fashion, collaborations and performances.
And then comes thee actual show: the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards air live from Los Angeles on Sunday, September 27 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. PT on CBS, simulcast on MTV and streaming on Paramount+ Premium in the U.S.
So yes, September is basically becoming one long VMA warm-up — and considering how much archive gold MTV has sitting in the vault, we approve this programming decision.
Watch Sabrina Carpenter Perform “Tears” at the 2025 MTV VMAs
The embedded performance comes from the 2025 VMAs and features Sabrina Carpenter performing “Tears” live.
Source: CBS; MTV; Paramount Press Express.
