Highlights
- Prime Video inked a six-year deal to exclusively stream the Emmys worldwide from 2027 through 2032, free for all.
- The move ends the 31-year Wheel Deal rotation among ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC, with Amazon reportedly paying $15M a year.
- TV Academy chair Cris Abrego says the old setup meant starting over every year, after NBC’s ratings slipped to 6.7M.
The Emmys just got Prime shipping.
The Television Academy and Prime Video have signed a six-year deal that will make the Amazon-owned streamer the exclusive home of the Primetime Emmys from 2027-32.
Variety saw it coming last month, cheekily declaring, “The Emmy ‘wheel’ is about to pop.”
Consider it popped. The deal retires the “Wheel Deal,” the yearly rotation between ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC that ran for three decades. The show has aired on one of the four broadcast networks every year since 1955.
TV Academy chair Cris Abrego is pitching it as a world tour. “Television has never been more global,” he said, noting audiences in more than 200 countries will be able to experience the Emmys live, with no subscription required.
Free! For now, anyway.
So, was it about the money? Abrego told Gold Derby that Prime “was definitely a much more competitive offer.”
That’s putting it politely. Amazon’s deal for the global rights is reportedly around 15 million per year, whereas the previous Wheel Deal was around 8 million to $10 million per year for the U.S.
Abrego also served The Hollywood Reporter some obligatory boardroom poetry, calling the pact “truly an opportunity to rethink the model and not simply just renew the deal.”
The real headache was whiplash. “We were starting over every year,” he told the AP.
Don’t expect the networks to grieve. The Los Angeles Times reported the Big Four were unhappy carrying what had become a “three-hour plus commercial for its streaming competitors.”
The ratings weren’t helping. NBC’s viewership during Monday’s Emmys dropped nearly 10% from last year, attracting 6.7 million viewers. The network aired the Emmys on a Monday evening, a move made to avoid competing with Sunday Night Football.
Now for the deliciously awkward bit. The biggest winners at the last two Emmys, Widow’s Bay and The Studio, can both be watched on Prime Video through its partnership with Apple TV.
Convenient doesn’t begin to cover it.
Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios boss Mike Hopkins, meanwhile, said Amazon is “honored that Prime Video will be trusted as the global home” for the ceremony.
Amazon isn’t new to trophy season, either. Prime Video had previously acquired the Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards after that kudocast left CBS in 2021, becoming the first major awards show to move to streaming. Prime also carries the NFL’s Thursday Night Football package and a significant portion of the NBA’s TV rights.
Loose ends remain. The Creative Arts Emmys, which FXX has broadcast since 2013, are “still being discussed.”
And the bragging rights? The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is moving the Oscar telecast to YouTube in 2029. Television’s big night just beat Hollywood’s to the streaming exit by two years.
One last thought. When talks first leaked, The AV Club snarked that “the streamers are better at hiding viewership data.”
Don’t hold your breath for next year’s ratings headline.
