The Primetime Emmy Awards will stream exclusively on Amazon’s Prime Video under a six-year agreement that runs through 2033. The telecast will be free to watch in more than 240 countries, and a person familiar with the deal told TheWrap it is worth about $15 million a year.
The move ends a rotation of roughly 31 years in which the ceremony moved between NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox. Cris Abrego, chair of the Television Academy, said reaching as many viewers as possible had been the priority. “Access was non-negotiable,” he said, explaining that the rotating model made it hard to grow the show because production, creative and branding work effectively started over every year. The Oscars are making a similar shift, moving to YouTube from 2029.
Abrego said Amazon was making a significant investment, likely well above the roughly $8 million a year the networks paid under their 2018 rotation deal. The package also includes the two-night Creative Arts Emmys, which cover guest acting and some limited series categories, and lets the Academy use the platform for other Emmys programming. The ceremony will keep its usual early September slot, although no date has been confirmed. The Daytime Emmys are not part of the agreement, as they are organised by NATAS, and talks about reuniting the two academies are ongoing.
Mike Hopkins, who leads Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, compared the opportunity to Amazon’s work in live sport and said the goal was a bigger and younger audience. He noted that Amazon also distributes channels including HBO Max, Apple TV, Paramount+, Peacock, Fox One and AMC Plus, which should help with promotion in the run-up to the show. Prime Video previously took the Academy of Country Music Awards from CBS in 2021, and the Actor Awards have moved from TNT to Netflix.
The Emmys’ broadcast history stretches back decades. ABC, CBS and NBC shared the show from 1966 to 1986, Fox took it over in 1987 and ABC held it from 1993 to 1995. An offer from HBO in 2002 fell apart after broadcasters threatened a boycott. Mariska Hargitay hosted this year’s ceremony, the last to air on NBC, where Matthew Rhys won two lead acting awards. Abrego also joked about the prospect of seeing Reacher, one of Prime Video’s own hit series, collect Emmys in future.
