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A visual history · Emmys

The winners who defined Documentary Series.

28 ceremonies, 1998–2025. 21 different winners. The longest run belongs to American Experience, with 2 straight wins.

Who won most recently?
100 Foot Wave in 2025.
Who has won the most?
American Masters, 10 wins (1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014).
  1. 100 Foot WaveHBO
  2. BeckhamNetflix
  3. The 1619 ProjectHulu
  4. The Beatles: Get BackDisney+
  5. Secrets of the WhalesDisney+
  6. The Last DanceESPN
Years explored
1998–2025
Different winners
21
Category leader
American Masters · 10
About this record

Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series was first awarded in 1998, so it does not run the full 1951–2025 window.

It was previously known as Outstanding Nonfiction Series.

2000–2025

26 ceremonies

19982025

01 / The reigns

American Masters set the longest run.

The timeline turns the 2000–2025 record into a sequence of reigns. Longer bands reveal sustained runs; color shows the credited network.

  1. 01
    American Masters9 wins
Each band is one winner’s reign. Wider means a longer run. Colored by network; hover for details.
American Masters'00–'01×2
Biography'02
American Masters'03–'04×2
Broadway: The American Musical'05
10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America'06
Planet Earth'07
American Masters'08–'09×2
The National Parks: America's Best Idea'10
American Masters'11
Frozen Planet'12
American Masters'13–'14×2
The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst'15
Making a Murderer'16
Planet Earth II'17
Wild Wild Country'18
Our Planet'19
The Last Dance'20
Secrets of the Whales'21
The Beatles: Get Back'22
The 1619 Project'23
Beckham'24
100 Foot Wave'25

02 / The power map

Who stood behind the winners?

PBS leads the recorded network credits with 11 wins, 2000–2025. The full distribution shows whether power was concentrated or shared.

PBS11 wins
Netflix4 wins
Discovery Channel2 wins
Disney+2 wins
HBO2 wins
A&E1 win
Wins by network
  1. PBS1142%
  2. Netflix415%
  3. Discovery Channel28%
  4. Disney+28%
  5. HBO28%
  6. A&E14%
  7. Other415%

03 / The near misses

The names that kept coming back without the ending they wanted.

Counting nominations in this category only, 2000–2025.

Most nominated, never won this award

  1. 01
    Inside the Actors Studio
    10 noms
  2. 02
    Deadliest Catch
    5 noms
  3. 03
    Behind the Music
    4 noms
  4. 04
    Chef's Table
    4 noms
  5. 05
    30 for 30
    3 noms
  6. 06
    Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations
    3 noms

Most losses in this category

  1. 01
    American Masters
    10L · 9W
  2. 02
    Biography
    10L · 1W
  3. 03
    Inside the Actors Studio
    10L · 0W
  4. 04
    Deadliest Catch
    5L · 0W
  5. 05
    Behind the Music
    4L · 0W
  6. 06
    Chef's Table
    4L · 0W

04 / The archive

Every year.
Every winner.

The complete reference behind the story, showing 2000–2025. Open any year to see the rest of the field when nominee records are available.

YearWinnerNetwork
2025100 Foot Wave
beat 4 others
  • Chef's Table
  • Simone Biles Rising
  • SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night
  • Social Studies
HBO
2024Beckham
beat 4 others
  • The Jinx - Part Two
  • Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV
  • Stax: Soulsville U.S.A.
  • Telemarketers
Netflix
2023The 1619 Project
beat 4 others
  • Dear Mama
  • 100 Foot Wave
  • Secrets of the Elephants
  • The U.S. and the Holocaust
Hulu
2022The Beatles: Get Back
beat 4 others
  • The Andy Warhol Diaries
  • jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy
  • 100 Foot Wave
  • We Need to Talk About Cosby
Disney+
2021Secrets of the Whales
beat 4 others
  • Allen v. Farrow
  • American Masters
  • City So Real
  • Pretend It's a City
Disney+
2020The Last Dance
beat 4 others
  • American Masters
  • Hillary
  • McMillion$
  • Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness
ESPN
2019Our Planet
beat 4 others
  • American Masters
  • Chef's Table
  • Hostile Planet
  • 30 for 30
Netflix
2018Wild Wild Country
beat 4 others
  • American Masters
  • Blue Planet II
  • The Defiant Ones
  • The Fourth Estate
Netflix
2017Planet Earth II
beat 4 others
  • American Masters
  • Chef's Table
  • The Keepers
  • 30 for 30
BBC America
2016Making a Murderer
beat 4 others
  • American Masters
  • Chef's Table
  • The Seventies
  • Woman with Gloria Steinem
Netflix
2015The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst
beat 4 others
  • American Masters
  • Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies
  • The Roosevelts: An Intimate History
  • The Sixties
HBO
2014American MasterstieYears of Living Dangerouslyrepeat
beat 3 others
  • Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey
  • Pioneers of Television
  • The World Wars
PBS
2013American Masters
beat 4 others
  • The Abolitionists
  • The Men Who Built America
  • Through the Wormhole
  • Vice
PBS
2012Frozen Planet
beat 4 others
  • Woody Allen: A Documentary
  • Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations
  • Inside the Actors Studio
  • The Weight of the Nation
Discovery Channel
2011American Masters
beat 5 others
  • Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations
  • Biography
  • Moguls & Movie Stars
  • Pioneers of Television
  • 30 for 30
PBS
2010The National Parks: America's Best Idea
beat 5 others
  • American Experience
  • American Masters
  • Deadliest Catch
  • Life
  • Monty Python: Almost the Truth (Lawyers Cut)
PBS
2009American Mastersrepeat
beat 5 others
  • American Experience
  • Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations
  • Biography
  • Deadliest Catch
  • This American Life
PBS
2008American MasterstieThis American Life
beat 3 others
  • Biography
  • Deadliest Catch
  • Inside the Actors Studio
PBS
2007Planet Earth
beat 4 others
  • American Masters
  • Biography
  • Deadliest Catch
  • Inside the Actors Studio
Discovery Channel
200610 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America
beat 4 others
  • American Masters
  • Biography
  • Deadliest Catch
  • Inside the Actors Studio
History
2005Broadway: The American Musical
beat 4 others
  • Biography
  • Cold Case Files
  • Dinner for Five
  • Inside the Actors Studio
PBS
2004American Mastersrepeat
beat 4 others
  • Biography
  • Cold Case Files
  • Inside the Actors Studio
  • The Soul of a Man
PBS
2003American Masters
beat 4 others
  • Behind the Music
  • Biography
  • E! True Hollywood Story
  • Inside the Actors Studio
PBS
2002Biography
beat 4 others
  • Antiques Roadshow
  • Behind the Music
  • E! True Hollywood Story
  • Inside the Actors Studio
A&E
2001American Mastersrepeat
beat 4 others
  • Behind the Music
  • Biography
  • Inside the Actors Studio
  • Jazz
PBS
2000American Masters
beat 4 others
  • Behind the Music
  • Biography
  • Inside the Actors Studio
  • New York: A Documentary Film
PBS