YouTube, CBS Sports and The Walt Disney Company are among the 2026 Digiday Video and TV Award Winners

By Digiday Awards • April 7, 2026 •

This year’s winners highlight how brands are reshaping video and TV through storytelling, collaboration and technology. Campaigns leaned into emotional narratives and creator partnerships to build deeper audience connections, while advances in ad tech and other emerging tools enabled more seamless integration with content. Across platforms, social video played a central role in driving engagement and reach. Together, these efforts reflect an industry evolving toward more immersive, participatory and technologically driven storytelling.

YouTube was named Best Digital Video Platform for proving it can deliver short-form, long-form and live content at an unmatched global scale. The platform enables creators to build audiences across formats while turning videos into shared cultural moments, from gaming communities surpassing one trillion views to record-setting live sports broadcasts. With reach spanning more than 230 countries and tens of millions of engagements, YouTube demonstrated its ability to sustain participation and influence across audiences. In a fragmented media landscape, it remains a central hub where creators, viewers and culture converge.

YouTube also secured the award for Best UGC Integration Strategy for spotlighting its musical theater community through a campaign that blended fan content with professional production. Centered on a 24-hour platform takeover and the original medley “Theater Kid Energy,” the effort wove user-generated content into a staged performance featuring creators and Broadway talent. Filmed to mirror a live production, the video incorporated fan references and comments, turning audience participation into storytelling. The campaign drew millions of views and strong engagement, demonstrating how YouTube can elevate community-driven content into shared cultural moments.

For Best FAST Channel, CBS Sports HQ clinched the win by redefining free streaming sports coverage with a live-first approach. Operating 24/7, the network delivers real-time news, highlights and analysis rather than relying on replays, supported by a full-scale production and editorial infrastructure. Its broad distribution across CTV, mobile and streaming platforms has driven record viewership growth and strengthened its reputation for immediacy and reliability. With original programming and continuous coverage, CBS Sports HQ has set a new standard for how live sports journalism operates in the FAST ecosystem.

The Walt Disney Company was awarded Best Streaming Service for redefining sports viewing through ESPN’s direct-to-consumer platform. By consolidating live games, original programming and highlights into a single app, ESPN expanded access while introducing features that made viewing more interactive and personalized. Tools like StreamCenter and AI-driven highlights tailored content to individual fans, while mobile-first formats broadened engagement. The platform drove record consumption and digital reach, outperforming competitors and influencing wider industry shifts toward streaming-first models. In doing so, ESPN set a new standard for how sports content is delivered and experienced.

Explore all the winners of this year’s Digiday Video and TV Awards below.

Best Ad
Armchair Quarterback: Bud Light

Best Ad Tech Innovation
EMG’s Maven

Best Brand Film or Series
Transmission – Who is… Watson? The Day AI Went Prime Time

Best CTV Ad Tech Platform
Transmit

Best Digital Video Platform
YouTube

Best Distribution Strategy
VG

Best FAST Channel
CBS Sports HQ

Best Immersive Video Experience – NEW
The Weather Channel: Hurricane Milton SurgeFX

Best Interactive Video Experience
Adobe Firefly – The Unfinished Film

Best Measurement Tool
Affinity Solutions & iSpot

Best Multi-Platform Video Campaign – NEW
Business Insider and The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Card

Best Original Programming
Ten100 / Xbox – War Game: The Making of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2

Best Shoppable Content Strategy
LTK – Creator-Led Social App for Trusted Recommendations

Best Social Video Campaign
Eli Signing Pizza, Hidden Valley Ranch, Pizza Hut

Best Streaming Service
ESPN – The Launch of ESPN DTC

Best TV/Streaming Ad Sales Program – NEW
Revry – Redefining “meaningful” engagement with LGBTQ streamers

Best UGC Integration Strategy
YouTube Celebrates Musical Theater Creators

Best Use of AI
Alison.ai Creative Intelligence for Video

Best Use of Data-Driven Personalization
Polestar drives brand lift with LG Ad Solutions

Best Use of Live Video
Night of Champions

Best Use of YouTube
Billy Blip Boss Builds a Global Kids Creator Community

Best Video Podcast
The Mina Kimes Show

Most Innovative Advertising Partner
Omaha Productions

Most Innovative Studio
QYOU Studios

Most Innovative Video Producer
Joe and Jada Production Team

Most Innovative Video Sales Executive
Dane Aagaard, Chief Revenue Officer, The Volume