DR sweeps awards, Netflix claims top Scripted honour in on night celebrating bold TV

TV Prisen 2026: Despite winning 12 of the ceremony’s 18 awards, DR was edged out in the coveted Scripted Long category by Netflix’s crime drama Secrets We Keep (Reservatet), which triumphed in a highly competitive fiction field. The TV 2 group secured five awards on the night, rounding out a ceremony that celebrated bold new formats and fresh storytelling across the industry.

The jury did not mince words: “Secrets We Keep is a masterpiece in storytelling. The series' form, content, and music blend in an extraordinary way, and the narrative unfolds strongly at its own pace.” Netflix’s crime series, produced by Uma Film, has already picked up the Nordic Series Script Award, presented by Nordisk Film & TV Fond, at Göteborg’s TV Drama Vision for writer Ingeborg Topsøe, while also scoring six nominations at Denmark’s Robert Awards, and it cleared all major prizes at THIS Series in Århus.

The new host, actor Jesper Zuschlag, was joined by celebrity presenters, and ran a tight ship for two hours with some room for sidetracks. TV Prisen 2026, downsized from previous years, awarded prizes in 18 categories, which comprised drama, documentary, sports, and children’s TV. As always, a professional jury of industry and genre experts selected the nominees and then the winners.

The combined field of winners and nominees offered a snapshot of a healthy Danish TV industry - and pointed to a clear trend toward bold and unconventional formats.

“We have an incredibly diverse industry, with plenty of room for creativity. The variety among both winners and the many nominees shows just that,” Head of the Danish Producers’ Association, Anna Porse Nielsen, told NFTVF.

Among the winners, several productions stood out for their innovative approaches. The School’s Lost Children (Skolens tabte børn), produced by Monday Production for DR, received the Innovation of the Year Award for using one family’s personal story to spark a national debate about rising school absenteeism - a discussion that even reached the political level. The programme was made possible after investigative journalist Jens Langhorn and his wife agreed to let cameras follow their family of three children, two of whom are affected by the issue.

Another notable winner was Hotel Romance (Hotel Romantik), which took the Best Reality Award by focusing on older singles - a group rarely represented in reality television.

In the Best Scripted Short category, the jury pointed to Families in the Nordics (Familier i Norden), produced by Forty Five Films for TV 2 Østjylland.

“Families in the Nordics introduces an environment and a range of characters that hit the mark. The story is both sensitive and effective in a surprising way, and gives us a new insight into a world we should know much more about.”

TV 2 received the award for Best Crime 2026 (True Crime) for Who is harassing Tove? (Hvem chikanerer Tove?), produced by Aberdabei Film. “It’s engaging, almost activist TV about a highly topical subject, and an important value debate. The narrative approach makes you feel like you're on the sidelines with the journalist trying to solve the case,” said the jury. TV 2 also won the Best Entertainment category for Mastermind (Stormester), produced by Metronome, praised by the jury for its great humour and for remaining surprisingly inventive season after season.

The Best Documentary Award went to Mr. Nobody Against Putin, produced by Made in Copenhagen for DR. The documentary stands out for several reasons, such as how it was filmed in Russia, who filmed it, and the risks involved.

Several other, more established formats received praise from industry peers, including DR's Alone in the Wild (Alene i vildmarken), which won the Best Competition-Driven Reality Award for its “captivating craftsmanship at a high level”. Married at First Sight (Gift ved første blik) received the Best Factual Entertainment Award, because this season, according to the jury, “was a clear demonstration of power that the format still delivers”.

Denmark's Next Classic (Danmarks næste klassiker) has also become an established format, and secured the Best Lifestyle Programme Award. The jury acknowledged that the show has moved beyond the studio setting and into the real world.

The winners TV Prisen 2026

Best Entertainment: Mastermind, produced by Metronome for TV 2.
Best Event: P3 Guld, produced by DR Ung and DR Bred Kultur & Fakta for DR
Best Scripted Long: Secrets we Keep, by Uma Film for Netflix
Innovation of the year: The School’s lost Children, by Monday Production for DR
Best Competition Driven Reality: Alone in the Wilderness, produced by ITV Studios Danmark for DR.
Best Documentary: Mr. Nobody Against Putin, produced by Made in Copenhagen for DR
Best Reportage (series): The Princesses in Alanya (Prinsesserne i Alanya), by Eddy Media for DR
Best Character-driven Series: Dad, dad & Kids (Far, far og børn), produced by DR Bred Kultur & Fakta for DR
Best Factual Entertainment: Married at First Sight, produced by Snowman Productions for DR
Best News and Current Affairs Content: Ultra Nyt: Obsessed with Skincare (Ultra Nyt: Besat af skincare), produced by DR B&U og Ultra Nyt for DR
Best Reality: Hotel Romance, produced by Strong Productions for DR
Best Scripted Short: Families in the Nodics, produced by Forty Five Film for TV 2 Østjylland
Best Children’s Programme: Kpop Dreams (Kpop drømme), produced by GreatHouse Film for DR
Best Factual and Documentary (Series): You will never leave (Du forsvinder aldrig), produced by Nordisk Film TV for TV 2
Best Factual and Documentary Long Runner: The Women’s Prison (Kvindefængslet), produced by DR Dokumentar for DR
Best Lifestyle: Denmark’s next Classic, by Monday Production for DR
Best True Crime: Who is harassing Tove?, by Aberdabei Film for TV 2
Bests Sports Coverage: Total Football (Totalfodbold), by TV 2 Sport for TV 2
The 2026 Life Time Achievement Award goes to Jørgen de Mylius