Television's biggest awards show is officially cutting ties with traditional broadcast networks. Amazon announced a landmark agreement with the Television Academy on Tuesday, making Prime Video the exclusive global home for the Emmy Awards from 2027 through 2032. This multi-year pact effectively ends a decades-long tradition where the ceremony rotated annually among the four major U.S. broadcast networks: ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC.
Under the terms of the new agreement, the September awards ceremony will stream live for free in more than 240 countries and territories, requiring no Prime subscription to watch. Cris Abrego, chair of the Television Academy, pointed to the increasingly global nature of the medium as a driving force behind the partnership. For the first time in its history, the awards show will have a single dedicated home rather than bouncing between different networks each year.
The shift comes as traditional television viewing continues to lose ground to digital platforms. Recent Nielsen data highlights that streaming commanded 49 percent of all TV viewing in July, whereas broadcast captured just 19.5 percent and cable sat at 18.7 percent. This decline in linear TV audiences has prompted a broader migration of major live events to streaming platforms. The Screen Actors Guild Awards moved exclusively to Netflix in 2024, and the Oscars are slated to transition to YouTube in 2029 under an agreement running through 2033.
For Amazon, acquiring live awards programming aligns with a wider industry push to capture ad revenue as streaming services lean heavily into advertiser-supported models. Amazon introduced commercials to Prime Video in 2024 and subsequently increased pricing for ad-free viewing. Securing live tentpole events provides a powerful mechanism to attract both viewers and brand dollars as subscriber growth plateaus across the market.
Prime Video Secures Exclusive Global Rights to Stream the Emmys
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