Amazon’s Prime Video will become the new home of the Emmy Awards beginning in 2027 under a six-year deal with the Television Academy, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Prime Video will hold global rights and plans to keep the ceremony available free outside its paywall, so viewers will not need an Amazon Prime subscription to watch.
Financial terms were not disclosed. The rights have rotated among ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC, with the annual fee valued at about $9.5 million in the Television Academy’s latest annual report. Production costs are separate and paid by the rights holder.
Emmy viewership remains well below historic highs, though it has recovered from a record low two years ago. The latest ceremony, on NBC, averaged 6.7 million viewers, down 10% from the prior year’s CBS telecast, according to Nielsen.
Broadcast networks had considered extending the current arrangement at a lower rights fee, people familiar with the matter told the Journal.
Prime Video head Mike Hopkins said the company sees a chance to attract a younger audience and “reimagine” the broadcast.