2026 ARIA Awards: Melanie Bracewell and Tim McDonald named hosts – Melanie Bracewell and Tim McDonald will host the 40th Annual ARIA Awards in Sydney on Wednesday 18 November. The Cheap Seats co-hosts will lead a television and streaming celebration marking four decades of the Australian music awards.
For viewers, the important distinction is between the live stream and the free-to-air broadcast. Paramount+ will carry the ceremony live from 5pm AEDT, while Channel 10 will show the awards and red carpet after Big Brother. ARIA has not supplied an exact start time for the Channel 10 broadcast, so the two should not be treated as simultaneous screenings.
The host announcement follows a nominations field led by Genesis Owusu and Tame Impala, who received eight nominations each. It also puts two familiar Channel 10 personalities at the centre of the 40th-anniversary show at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion.
The Cheap Seats pair take the ARIA stage
Bracewell and McDonald bring their established on-screen partnership to the ceremony. Their Network 10 series The Cheap Seats won the 2023 Logie Award for Most Outstanding Entertainment Program. It passed 100 episodes in 2024 and returned for a sixth season in 2026.
ARIA is banking on the pair’s quick-fire humour and live-television experience for its anniversary event. Bracewell joked that her last awards-hosting assignment involved a meat-tray raffle. McDonald said he was honoured to celebrate Australian music and the ARIA Awards’ 40-year milestone, adding a joke about failing the recorder in grade three.
Who is hosting the 2026 ARIA Red Carpet?
DJ and presenter Latifa Tee joins the broader hosting team and will also appear on the red carpet. Based on Eora land, she hosts triple j’s House Party and Doof, where she champions Australian electronic music and new dance and club tracks.
Channel 10 entertainment editor Angela Bishop and presenter Georgie Tunny will join Latifa on the red carpet. Together, they will cover the arrivals and other moments around the ceremony. Music journalist and The Pop Pod host Sam Murphy will again report behind the scenes for ARIA’s social channels.
The presenting line-up splits the night between the main awards show, television red-carpet coverage and social reporting. That gives viewers several ways to follow the artists and performances, even before the Channel 10 screening begins.
How to watch the 2026 ARIA Awards in Australia
The 40th Annual ARIA Awards, held in partnership with Spotify, stream live on Paramount+ from 5pm AEDT on Wednesday 18 November. ARIA says Channel 10 will broadcast both the awards and red carpet following Big Brother, but has not announced an exact Channel 10 time. Red-carpet moments and performances will also appear on ARIA’s social channels from 1pm.
The Sydney event has support from Destination NSW. As well as recognising this year’s nominees and winners, it marks 40 years of the awards and Australian music’s place on the national stage.
For the nominees and more TV Central coverage, read our 2026 ARIA Awards nominations story. Event information is available from the official ARIA website.
