The ceremony was held on Sunday, September 17, 2017, at the Microsoft Theater in Downtown Los Angeles, California, and was broadcast in the U.S. by CBS.

[5][6] Host Stephen Colbert opened the ceremony with a song-and-dance number and a monologue that lampooned the state of the world under President Donald Trump, which The New York Times said set an anti-Trump tone for the rest of the event.

[7] Many of the further presentations and host commentary continued jokes aimed towards Trump, along with winners' speeches criticizing the President and standing behind diversity in the television field.

Analysts attribute this to younger audiences preferring to watch clips or summaries than the entire event[20] and to Florida markets being affected by Hurricane Irma.

The awards were presented by the following:[24][25][26] Broadway actor Christopher Jackson performed Stevie Wonder's "As" as images of television personalities who died in the past year were shown in the following order.